[시사저널e=유길연 기자] Bitcoin rose significantly this week (23rd to 29th) due to expectations for approval of a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) and the effect of the halving scheduled for April next year. Optimism is emerging one after another in the market.
According to CoinMarketCap, a global virtual asset market site on the 29th, at 7:30 am on this day, Bitcoin was worth $34,144 (about 46.37 million won), a significant jump of about 14% compared to a week ago. Last weekend, Bitcoin was trading around $30,000, but it rose sharply from the afternoon of the 23rd and exceeded $34,000 on the morning of the 24th. Afterwards, the price was maintained without a significant decline.
Recently, there is speculation in the market that approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF is imminent. BlackRock, a large global asset management company, completed registration of its Bitcoin spot ETF with the U.S. Securities Depository (DTCC) the day before. The ETF has the IBTC symbol, which means it can be listed on the Nasdaq market.
“Excitement is rising in the virtual asset market,” said Antony Trenchev, co-founder of digital asset management company Nexo. “Now all that remains is to wait and see when specific details will come out from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”
Expectations for the listing of spot ETFs began due to a U.S. court ruling last month. Early last month, the U.S. court ruled that it was unreasonable for the U.S. court to allow futures ETFs but not spot ETFs. Grayscale Investment, a U.S. asset management company, filed a lawsuit claiming that the SEC’s failure to approve its spot ETF was unfair, but the court ruled in Grayscale Investment’s favor. Afterwards, the market’s expectations grew even more as the SEC gave up its appeal.
When a spot ETF is listed, it is considered the biggest positive factor for the virtual asset industry in that it will attract a large amount of new demand, including from institutional investors. If BlackRock’s Bitcoin spot ETF is approved, other products are expected to be listed one after another. The SEC has also withheld a decision on the approval of seven spot ETFs applied by asset management companies, including Blackrock, Bitwise, Van Eck, Wisdom Tree, Invesco, Fidelity, and Valkyrie.
In addition, the fact that Bitcoin halving is scheduled for April next year is also considered a factor leading to the recent upward trend. Bitcoin undergoes a halving period in which the total supply is limited to 21 million and mining rewards are reduced by half. During halving, supply decreases and prices tend to rise. Halving occurs every four years, and in the previous three halvings, it rose 8450% in 2012, 290% in 2016, and 560% in 2020.
Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank (IB), said in a recent report, “Bitcoin halving marks the end of the virtual asset winter (Crypto Winter) and the beginning of a new bull market, and the approval of spot ETFs will accelerate the popularization of virtual assets.” “The two will trigger a bull market for virtual assets,” he said.
Some predict that Bitcoin will surpass the $70,000 level. CryptoQuant, a virtual asset data analysis company, said, “With the listing of Bitcoin spot ETF, $155 billion could flow into the Bitcoin market. If this happens, the price of Bitcoin could soar from $50,000 to $73,000.” I looked ahead.
2023-10-29 00:50:37
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