Is Bitcoin back? It appears so—at least for now.
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) edged past $35,000 this week—the highest it’s been since May 2022. After a prolonged “crypto winter,” this is welcome news to crypto traders and investors, many of whom are underwater on their holdings. While the $35,000 mark is still a long way from BTC’s peak value of more than $63,000 in the spring of 2021, it does represent a sizable bounceback. Bitcoin prices tumbled to less than $17,000 in late 2022.
As of the morning of October 24, Bitcoin’s price is sitting above $34,000. Within 24 hours, Bitcoin’s value had increased by more than 11%. For the year, it’s gained more than 90%.
What’s fueling the increase in value?
The increase reflects an uptick in demand as crypto investors anticipate the approval and listing of Bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. This anticipation is not only lifting the value of Bitcoin, but also the value of other crypto-related assets, including stocks in companies such as Coinbase (up nearly 14% on intraday trading) and Riot Platforms, a crypto miner (up 14%). Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, has likewise seen its value increase—up more than 16% over the previous five days.
As the Wall Street Journal reports, there are a few things at play to help fuel Bitcion’s rise.
First, a federal appeals court issued a mandate this week saying that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to reconsider an application from Grayscale Investments to turn its Bitcoin trust into an ETF. Second, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF filing was updated, and it appears that the fund is preparing to launch—despite a lack of approval for similar funds from the SEC. The aforementioned mandate should make it more likely that it does gain approval, however.
In all, a handful of bullish signals for the crypto markets appear to be the catalyst for Bitcoin’s rise. Todd Groth, head of research at CoinDesk Indices, says that the CoinDesk Bitcoin Trend Indicator BTI—a tool that measures the momentum and strength in Bitcoin’s price action—has moved to a “significant upward trend” in a post on X, a sign that the asset’s strength could carry on in the days and weeks ahead.
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