- Bitcoin jumped $5,000 overnight as the promise of an ETF came even closer
- BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust was officially listed on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp with the IBTC ticker
- The SEC has also been asked to review Grayscale’s application
Fans of magic Internet money were celebrating overnight as Bitcoin put in a remarkable shift to jump $5,000 in 24 hours as further progress was made towards a Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin’s impressive performance was due to a number of factors regarding its now seemingly imminent arrival on the ETF scene, with a US federal appeals court sending Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF application back to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for further review and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust being officially listed on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp with the ticker symbol IBTC. This means a Bitcoin ETF is all but confirmed, potentially ending a 10-year wait.
Bitcoin Eyeing Crucial Breakout
Bitcoin had already been experiencing serious growth since bouncing from the $25,000 region in September, with yesterday’s bounce seeing it clear, temporarily at least, a level of resistance that has been in place since May 2022:
If Bitcoin holds above this level on a weekly timeframe then there is every reason to believe that we have transitioned from the last wave of the bear market to the first of the next bull market. We can gauge the importance of this level from the following longer-term timeframe:
There is no doubt that the acceleration above this level, and out of the bear market trench in which Bitcoin has been stuck for 17 months is due to the promise of a Bitcoin ETF, which looks on the verge of finally being fulfilled.
The first Bitcoin ETF application was filed by the Winklevoss twins in mid-2013, and a little over a decade later, the stars are beginning to align for an application to finally be granted. The first of these was the confirmation of Grayscale’s victory over the SEC which sent its application back to the agency for review (although the SEC could still find other grounds to deny it), but the major news revolved around BlackRock’s application, as Bloomberg’s Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas reported:
The iShares Bitcoin Trust has been listed on the DTCC (Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, which clears NASDAQ trades). And the ticker will be $IBTC. Again all part of the process of bringing ETF to market.. h/t @martypartymusic pic.twitter.com/8PQP3h2yW0
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 23, 2023
It is evident from the Bitcoin price action that many believe it is now simply a matter of time before someone’s Bitcoin ETF gets approved, and so they are trying to scoop as much as possible.
Among the exuberance of Bitcoin’s price action comes the added frisson of enjoyment in the fact that the incarnation of the SEC that has shown the most hostility towards cryptocurrencies is the agency that looks set to approve the first Bitcoin ETF.
Poetry.
