The cryptocurrency has rallied nearly 90% in 2023
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The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin, has jumped to its highest level since June 2022 this week, according to CoinDesk crypto trading tracker.
The token rose as high as $31,411 per coin on Friday before the gains were pared later in the day. Around 07:30 GMT on Sunday, Bitcoin was trading at $30,814, up about 0.4% over the past 24 hours, data shows. It is up around 20% over the past week, and roughly 87% since the start of the year. It is still more than 50% below its all-time high of almost $69,000 in November 2021.
Analysts attribute the surge to the recent spike of interest in crypto from financial giants. Last week, the world’s biggest asset manager, US-based BlackRock, applied to register a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would allow investors to gain exposure to the cryptocurrency without necessarily buying it. Two other financial services majors, Invesco and WisdomTree, also recently refiled applications for similar products.
These applications came shortly after the cryptocurrency industry faced a regulatory crackdown in the US. Earlier this month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued major exchanges Coinbase and Binance on alleged violations of securities laws. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was accused of operating illegally on US soil, while Coinbase, America’s own major crypto trading platform, faced charges as an unregistered broker.
Industry experts, however, believe that a Bitcoin ETF could be seen as a positive development in the crypto sector’s quest for regulatory approval, and the recent surge in Bitcoin price signals the resilience of public interest in crypto.
“A sustained move above $31,000 would signal us entering a new phase where market participants are starting to reprice some of the previous regulatory anxiety. Despite what comes across as antagonistic rhetoric from some regulators, the Bitcoin spot ETF applications have amplified the view that institutions remain interested in crypto,” Strahinja Savic, the head of data and analytics at Toronto-based crypto platform FRNT Financial, wrote on Telegram.
He added that “there are serious actors looking at growing their involvement in the digital asset space” despite regulatory pressures, and “Bitcoin’s move above $30,000 seems to be acknowledging that.”
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