watch
now
Bitcoin
rose
in
volatile
trading
Thursday
after
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
gave
the
green
light
for
the
first-ever
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
to
trade
in
the
U.S.,
as
expected.
The
cryptocurrency
was
last
up
1%
at
$46,289.15,
according
to
Coin
Metrics.
Earlier,
it
punched
above
$49,000,
reaching
levels
not
seen
since
December
2021.
Meanwhile,
the
price
of
ether
jumped
5%
to
May
2022
highs.
It
last
traded
at
$2,594.60.
The
ETF
approval
is
a
landmark
victory
for
the
crypto
industry,
which
first
sought
to
launch
a
bitcoin
ETF
more
than
10
years
ago.
Optimism
had
been
building
since
Grayscale’s
big
legal
win
against
the
SEC
in
August
over
the
regulator’s
refusal
to
let
it
convert
its
popular
Bitcoin
Trust
(GBTC)
into
an
ETF.
The
flagship
cryptocurrency’s
price
has
increased
80%
since
then.
Bitcoin
erases
earlier
losses
after
SEC
greenlights
bitcoin
ETFs
Following
the
SEC’s
decision,
bitcoin
initially
edged
lower,
as
expected
by
many
traders.
Although
the
volume
of
inflows
into
the
new
funds
remains
to
be
seen,
bitcoin
ETFs
are
still
widely
expected
to
drive
the
demand
–
and
ultimately,
price
–
of
bitcoin
higher.
“I’d
expect
to
see
bitcoin
bounce
around,”
said
Sylvia
Jablonski,
CEO
and
chief
investment
officer
at
Defiance
ETFs.
“In
the
past,
when
ETFs
have
come
to
market
on
a
particular
theme,
one
often
sees
a
run
up
in
the
underlying
asset,
a
sell-the-news
upon
launch,
and
then
a
slower
and
steadier
rally.”
“I
wouldn’t
make
much
of
these
bitcoin
price
moves
in
the
next
couple
of
days,
but
I
do
think
that
the
approval
is
going
to
lead
to
some
longer
term
price
appreciation,”
she
added.
“Trading
on
an
exchange,
without
a
digital
wallet,
[and]
custody
similar
to
any
other
fund
product
makes
bitcoin
exposure
far
more
interesting
to
those
institutions
with
bullish
views
on
the
asset
class.”
Ether’s
rally
propped
up
other
coins
in
the
Ethereum
ecosystem.
The
token
tied
to
Polygon
gained
7%,
Chainlink
advanced
5%
and
Uniswap
rose
6%.
“Now
that
the
bitcoin
ETF
speculation
has
come
to
fruition
it
looks
like
traders
are
rotating
to
ether
to
get
ahead
of
the
next
narrative,
an
ETH
ETF,
while
ETH
looks
relatively
cheap
compared
to
most
other tokens,”
said
Conor
Ryder,
head
of
research
at
the
stablecoin
company
Ethena
Labs.
The
SEC
is
due
to
give
decisions
on
spot
ETH
ETF
applications
beginning
in
May. BlackRock, Invesco,
Ark
and
VanEck
are
among
the
firms
in
line
for
approval,
as
well
as
Grayscale,
which
is
seeking
to
convert
its
existing Ethereum
Trust
(ETHE) into
an
ETF.
“It’s
all
about
getting
ahead
of
the
narratives
—
bitcoin
has
rallied
versus
ether
for
the
last
six
months
thanks
to
spot
ETF
speculation,
and
ETF
approval
ties
a
bow
on
that
narrative,”
Ryder
said.
“Meanwhile
ETH
has
struggled
to
find
any
momentum
and
has
underperformed
compared
to
most
of
the
smaller
Layer
1s,”
or
blockchain
networks,
like Solana
and
Cardano.
Ether
lagged
bitcoin
in
2023,
rising
just
90%
compared
to
bitcoin’s
157%.
