Bitcoin has greeted 2024 with a noteworthy achievement. The world’s largest and oldest crypto ticked back above $45,000 on New Year’s Day as bullish traders eagerly await the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s potential approval of a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Could 2024 be the year the SEC greenlights a spot BTC EFT?

BTC Blows Past $45,000 As ETF Approval Nears

Bitcoin is back above $45,000 per coin after hitting that mark on the first day of the new year for the first time since April 2022. BTC is trading for around $45,452.26 at the time of publication. The asset is up 7.7% in 24 hours. In the past week, it has risen by more than 7%, according to CoinGecko. 

At the current price, BTC is up over 170% compared to this time last year. The premier crypto kicked off 2023, changing hands at sub-$17,000.

Bitcoin’s bullish upward movement comes as the market braces for the SEC to give the regulatory blessing to one or all of the 14 outstanding fillings for a spot BTC ETF product, currently awaiting a decision from the agency.

Over the weekend, news dropped that the SEC could start notifying ETF applicants as early as Tuesday or Wednesday that their applications would be greenlighted.

The consensus in the crypto community is the regulatory agency will now approve a spot bitcoin ETF after saying no for a decade. An ETF being approved is perceived as a bullish event as it would allow traditional investors to get exposure to the top crypto in a safe and regulated way.

BTC Ready For Liftoff?

A breakthrough above the psychologically important $45,000 level suggests good things for market sentiment and fortifies the belief that the bullish rally could continue.

Prominent crypto trader-cum-analyst Scott Melker (aka Wolf of all streets) told his 925,000 followers on X that BTC is presently forming a bull pennant following a month of consolidation at prices around $40,000.

Melker forecasts that Bitcoin could break above $54,000 in the days after the potential approval from the SEC. 

VanEck adviser Gabor Gurbacs, however, argued yesterday that the “initial impact” of a spot bitcoin ETF is being dramatically overestimated — estimating it may only register net inflows of around $100 million from “mostly recycled” capital from deep-pocketed institutional investors upon listing. But Gurbacs says the ETFs could bring in trillions of dollars to the cryptocurrency sector in the long term.

Other pundits like ARK Invest’s Cathie Woods warn the market might experience a “sell the news” event post-ETF approval.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ January 2, 2024 12:04 pm