Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Portal
Bitcoin is booming again
New York CNN –
Bitcoin is rising rapidly and surpasses $35,000 for the first time since May 2022. It is up 20% in the last five days.
The notoriously volatile cryptocurrency has more than doubled in value this year as investors become increasingly excited by the prospect of being able to buy Bitcoin funds traded on good, old-fashioned exchanges rather than dealing with less regulated and sometimes unsafe crypto platforms (see: FTX, Binance, et al).
The latest wave of excitement came when Bitcoin exchange-traded fund BlackRock appeared on a list controlled by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., a stock and ETF clearinghouse operated by Nasdaq, according to Portal.
BlackRock applied a Bitcoin spot ETF in June, pending approval. The company is the world’s largest provider of ETFs and manages trillions of dollars in assets. A BlackRock Bitcoin ETF would give the cryptocurrency a new sense of legitimacy.
“This listing on the DTCC does not mean that the fund has actually been launched or that this will inevitably happen,” said Samer Hasn, market analyst at online broker XS.com. “However, it may appear to be part of BlackRock’s preparations to launch the ETF soon.”
Other companies have also applied for approval to launch similar Bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale Investments.
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ruled against Grayscale’s ETF, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals in August overturned the regulator’s decision. The panel said the regulator failed to adequately explain why it rejected the company’s application.
That helped boost cryptocurrencies throughout the summer.
Still, the SEC hasn’t approved the fund, and investors could exit prematurely.
“I think this rapid rise in Bitcoin is a bit exaggerated,” Hasn said. “Regulatory and legislative concerns continue to cloud this market, and I see no opportunity to address these concerns soon as litigation continues.”
But there’s another reason why Bitcoin could rise: fear. As investors look to diversify their portfolios in uncertain times, some are turning to Bitcoin, ironically as a kind of digital safe haven. Sometimes referred to as “digital gold,” Bitcoin has become a way for investors to go beyond traditional stocks and bonds.