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Bitcoin Hovers Over $34K as BlackRock IBTC Ticker Euphoria Fades Out
Growth among most crypto majors seemed to lull as traders likely took profits on gains since the start of this week.
Updated Oct 25, 2023, 4:08 p.m. Published Oct 25, 2023, 11:19 a.m.
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Rapid gains in bitcoin prices seemed to pause Wednesday morning as traders likely took profits on a week-long rally, bumping bitcoin prices as much as 25% on hopes of a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the U.S.
Major tokens showed mixed movement as Cardano’s ADA slipped 2%, while Solana’s SOL tokens added 3%, extending a week-long rally to nearly 30%. Growth in SOL tokens came as traders downplayed fears of a looming sell-off by the FTX bankruptcy estate.
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The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based tracker of hundreds of tokens, rose 0.42%, suggesting slight gains across the overall market.
Meanwhile, some traders said signs of institutional adoption may be an indication of the end of ‘crypto winter’ – a colloquial term for a bear market characterized by lower prices and little venture capital investments.
“What we are potentially seeing is a permanent thawing of so-called ‘crypto winters.’ While the digital asset market will always have bulls and bears, institutional adoption is pushing us closer to perpetual spring,” shared Diogo Mónica, co-founder at Anchorage Digital, referring to the many spot ETF applications.
“Between recent price action and movement toward spot Bitcoin ETF approval, the long-term outlook for Bitcoin is the most promising it has been in recent memory—and institutions are just getting started,” Mónica added.
Elsewhere, crypto trading firm QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast that the anticipation of a spot bitcoin ETF was currently driving outsized demand for the asset.
“Steps taken by Blackrock, including a DTCC listing and tickerization (IBTC), gave the market hope that the SEC approval is imminent,” QCP said. “However, we do not think that this signals an impending SEC decision in the coming week.”
“Instead, we believe the SEC will avoid playing the role of kingmaker, sticking with its own precedent set during the BTC/ETH futures ETF approval process and will wait to approve multiple managers at the same time,” the firm opined.
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BlackRock's digital assets head: Leverage-driven volatility threatens bitcoin’s narrative
Rampant speculation on crypto derivatives platforms is fueling volatility and risking bitcoin’s image as a stable hedge, says BlackRock’s digital assets chief.
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- BlackRock digital-assets chief Robert Mitchnick warned that heavy use of leverage in bitcoin derivatives is undermining the cryptocurrency’s appeal as a stable institutional portfolio hedge.
- Mitchnick said bitcoin’s fundamentals as a scarce, decentralized monetary asset remain strong, but its trading increasingly resembles a "levered NASDAQ," raising the bar for conservative investors to adopt it.
- He argued that exchange-traded funds like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF are not the main source of volatility, pointing instead to perpetual futures platforms.
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