Bitcoin trading surged to an almost 10-month high as investors braced for Wall Street’s opening bell when the US would see the introduction of its first exchange-traded funds that allow investors to trade the largest cryptocurrency without the risk of owning it.
Data from CoinGecko shows that as of 7.15 a.m. on Thursday, the daily trading volume for Bitcoin across cryptocurrency exchanges was $52 billion.
That is the highest since the token’s rally on March 21st of last year, when the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp. shook faith in the established banking system.
According to data collated by Bloomberg, the price of Bitcoin increased by as much as 3.8% on Thursday to hit an intraday high of $47,705, supported by the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs following Wednesday’s market close.
US investors can begin buying newly established ETFs, such as BlackRock Inc.’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (ticker IBIT), on Thursday morning. As of 7:15 a.m. in New York, 19,000 shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (ticker GBTC), which was changed from a unit trust to an ETF, had changed hands in premarket trading.
“The ETF is effectively a watershed moment for financial advisers who now must have an opinion on this asset class,” stated Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, a data supplier that provides indexes for a number of the ETFs that have been approved.
It also added, “They might still not recommend it to their clients, but the fact it’s now available through a regulated product means they must at least have a viewpoint. This could open the door to a much more steady flow of interest and flows into the asset class.”
Also Read: Polymarket Sees $12M in Bets on Spot Bitcoin ETFs Outcome
