Today, on October 24, Bitcoin updated its year's highest price of $35,280, with a rise of 12% over the last 24 hours. This can be attributed to yesterday's news related to expectations of spot Bitcoin ETFs launching in the USA. The court ordered the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETH application, and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust was included in the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
If you forgot what a spot Bitcoin ETF is and why it's so important to the market, read our article: What is a spot bitcoin ETF, and why does everyone talk about it?
The court ordered the SEC to review Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETH application
Grayscale Investments is a digital currency asset management company. Its main product is the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC). The trust’s shares are backed by real-spot Bitcoin. For several years now, the company has been trying to negotiate the conversion of GBTC into a spot ETF.
On August 29, Grayscale won the SEC in the spot Bitcoin ETF case. Also, in September, the company asked the regulator to consider the application for a spot Bitcoin ETF as soon as possible.
On October 23, the story attracted the crypto community's attention again. The US Court of Appeals officially approved that the SEC should review Grayscale's application to convert the GBTC trust into a spot ETF.
However, the regulator is not obliged to accept it. Moreover, a similar case had already happened before. The SEC can postpone the decision or reject the application. So, the news is just adding to the noise around the spot Bitcoin ETF and generating more rumours and expectations.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust was included in DTCC
BlackRock is one of the largest investment companies in the world. Since the summer of 2023, they have been actively involved in the issue of spot Bitcoin ETFs launch. The head of the company, Larry Fink, has spoken positively about Bitcoin many times. iShares Bitcoin Trust is the name of the spot Bitcoin ETF that BlackRock applied for on June 16 of this year.
Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) is a company that offers clearing and settlement services to financial markets. Its main goal is to check transactions and settlements on exchanges, including NASDAQ, which is one of the main exchanges in the US.
On October 23, iShares Bitcoin Trust appeared in DTCC tracking and even received the ticker IBTC. As Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas writes, this is part of the process of preparing the ETF for market launch.
Moreover, iShares Bitcoin Trust is the first spot Bitcoin ETF to be listed on DTCC. Usually, it happens shortly before the launch of trading. However, there has been no public information about the SEC approval yet, so things may not be so rosy. Anyway, Bitcoin's price pumped on the rumours.
Market reaction on positive news from Grayscale and BlackRock on spot Bitcoin ETF
Bitcoin held steady above the $30,000 level throughout the day. Towards nightfall, the price rose sharply. This can be seen in the hourly chart below. On the 24th of October, Bitcoin reached $35,280, thus updating its previous record at $31,804 in July, 2023.
By now, BTC value has fallen slightly and is currently standing at around $34,700. The last time such prices could be seen was in May, 2022. According to Coinglass, in the last 24 hours the total amount of liquidations in the futures market has exceeded $400 million.
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