Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies got a shot in the arm after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave its blessing to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The federal regulator approved a long list of spot Bitcoin ETF applications—including that of the world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock.

The industry took the SEC’s nod as a major sign of encouragement, with all top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap trading in the green in early trade on Thursday.

The OG cryptocurrency Bitcoin rose nearly 1% to $46,425 over the last 24 hours but the prices were still lagging behind the fresh 19-month highs it hit earlier this week. At press time, Bitcoin’s market cap stood at $910 billion while trading volumes jumped a whopping 103% to $51 billion over the last 24 hours.

Ethereum — the third largest crypto — got a rocket-fuel boost, surging 10% over the last 24 hours to $2,617. The market cap of Ether soared to $314.5 billion while trading volumes stood at $ 30.2 billion, up 68% over the last 24 hours.

Smaller tokens, or altcoins, followed a similar upward trend, with BNB and Solana rising more than 2% each. While Tether and USDC prices were flat, XRP price grew 6%, Cardano (ADA) price rallied over 12%, and Avalanche (AVAX) jumped nearly 14%.

Popular memecoins — Dogecoin and Shiba Inu — also climbed 6%, and 5.5%, respectively. The optimism was reflected in the global crypto market cap, which rose 3.5% to $1.77 trillion. The fear and greed index level stood at 74, indicating investors were bullish on crypto.

Top 3 Cryptos For Today

Pepe Price Rallies 11%

The price of Pepe Coin surged almost 16% over the last 24 hours to $0.000001389, sending its market cap soaring to $584.6 million. Its trading volume over the last 24 hours skyrocketed over 119% to $242.3 million.

Pepe Price Chart

Arbitrum (ARB) Price Jumps Nearly 21%

Arbitrum (ARB) price surged over 20% over the last 24 hours to $2.34, with its market cap climbing to $2.9 billion. Trading volumes in the past 24 hours jumped a staggering 81% to @2.6 billion. The token has appreciated over 104% in the last 30 days, indicating rising interest in the altcoin.

Arbitrum (ARB) Price Chart

 

The post Crypto Prices Today: Bitcoin Tops $46K, Ether and Pepe Rally After Bitcoin ETF Approval appeared first on CoinGape.

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Filed under: News - @ January 1, 1970 12:00 am