The cryptocurrency briefly soared earlier in the week as hopeful investors weighed the possibility of finally introducing a Bitcoin ETF in the United States in the coming months.
Bitcoin soared above $30,000 at one point Monday morning following unconfirmed reports that the iShares Spot Bitcoin ETF was officially approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the coin quickly relinquished those gains as the reports could not be confirmed by major media outlets. BlackRock told CNBC that the iShares Bitcoin ETP application is still under review by the SEC. A source close to the SEC said Monday’s report was not accurate.
Bitcoin briefly surpassed $30,000 on Monday
In recent transactions, Bitcoin Ether rose about 4.5% to $28,245.25, according to Coin Metrics, while Ether rose more than 1% to trade at $1,578.87.
Last Friday, Bitcoin soared following news that the SEC would not appeal the ruling in Grayscale’s lawsuit against regulators. In June 2022, Grayscale sued the SEC for denying the company’s application to convert to a popular plan. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to ETFs.
A Grayscale spokesperson told CNBC: “The 45-day period for reconsideration under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure has ended. The court will issue a final order within the next seven calendar days.” . “The Grayscale team remains prepared to convert GBTC into an ETF upon SEC approval and looks forward to sharing further information as soon as possible.”
It’s possible that the SEC will deny Grayscale’s request again, but the commission has recently lost momentum in its efforts to broadly regulate cryptocurrencies, with Grayscale in particular proving to be a stumbling block. For example, the D.C. Court of Appeals called the SEC’s denials “arbitrary and capricious.” Many investors took Friday’s news as a signal that the SEC may be close to allowing Grayscale to list GBTC stock.
“Many people think the fact that the SEC chose to ask the question is a change in behavior,” Ark Investments CEO Cathie Wood said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” “I think there is a growing expectation that one or more Bitcoin ETFs will be approved.” ” Monday.
Indeed, Bitcoin is coming off its worst week since August 18th and its first negative week in six years. According to Coinmetrics, it fell 4.35% this week to close at $26,755.66. Ether fell 6.36% this week to end the week at $1,544.24.
Bitcoin and Ethereum may also be benefiting from recession fears, with Paul Tudor Jones last week touting Bitcoin as a safe trade in an uncertain macro economy on Bernstein This Morning did.
Still, regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. crypto industry has put some pressure on Bitcoin’s price, as investors have become disinterested in increasing their positions. As a result, the market has suffered from low volume and liquidity, and Bitcoin has been unable to reach new highs above $30,000.
Other crypto assets also rose on Monday morning’s optimism.ripple’s XRP and binance coin, the top coins by market capitalization after Bitcoin and Ether, excluding stablecoins, each rose more than 1%.Smart contract platform Solana sol Token gains 7%, Cardano Ada 2% token added.
Crypto stocks have also been struggling recently, but they have outperformed crypto assets.on monday morning coinbase Shares rose more than 2% in early trading.Including mining stocks riot platform and marathon digitalan overall increase of about 5%.
—CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Nick Wells and John Meloy contributed reporting.
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