The Bitcoin price barreled past the $35,000 level on multiple exchanges about an hour ago and has continued to maintain impressive bullish momentum. The reason for the surge is once again tied back to the anticipation around a potential approval of the BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF and the expectations of it triggering a bull market.

BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Listing Surfaces

The Bitcoin price rally was triggered by an image that has been circulated many times on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) showing that the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust had been listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) under the ticker IBTC.

Usually, a listing on the DTCC is taken as a step for ETFs that are ready for approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, BlackRock, which is the largest asset management company in the world, reportedly told the regulator that it plans to seed its Spot Bitcoin ETF in October. So the asset manager looks to be readying for an October launch as well.

Related Reading: ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood Reveals Why Bitcoin Will Reach $1.48 Million

As Bloomberg Analyst Eric Balchunas explains, “Seeding an ETF is when initial funding is provided (typically) by a bank or broker dealer used to purchase a few creation units (in this case bitcoin) in exchange for ETF shares which can be traded in open market on Day One.”

It should be noted that just because an ETF is listed on the DTCC does not mean that it will gain immediate approval. Some ETFs will sit on the DTCC for months or years at a time before gaining approval to trade, while some simply never launch. However, given BlackRock’s influence, expectations are the company is doing this in preparation for approval.

Following The Bitcoin Price Growth Trend

The Bitcoin price increase has been mostly an ‘up-only’ trend with some pits and stops along the way. In the last 24 hours, the digital asset is already up over 14% with other metrics following swiftly behind such as market cap and daily trading volume.

Bitcoin’s daily trading volume jumped over 257% since the rally began, currently sitting at $44.7 billion. Likewise, the Bitcoin open interest has seen a 6.36% increase across all exchanges, bringing total open interest to $15.05 billion at the time of writing.

The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has also jumped to a six-month high, flashing a very greedy 66. This means that investors are more willing to jump into the digital asset and the evidence of this is in its rising daily trading volumes, as mentioned above.

The Bitcoin price has since retraced from the $35,000 level but continues to trade just above $34,500 where the bulls seem to have established support. A successful retest of the $35,000 resistance would set the Bitcoin price on a path to $40,000.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ October 24, 2023 3:20 am