Bitcoin's value soared past $34,000 on Monday, a first since last year, marking a substantial 14% rise within a single day. The sudden surge is credited to renewed interest in spot ETF approvals and increased trading volumes. Scott Johnson, an analyst, suggests that investment giant BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) is on the verge of seeding its spot ETF product.
Eric Balchunas, a Bloomberg analyst, clarified in a tweet that seeding involves infusing initial capital into ETF shares for open market trading. The swift price climb left the cryptocurrency community surprised, with Autism Capital querying their large follower base of 237,000 for insights into this unexpected event.
On Tuesday, Bitcoin's Layer-2 Stacks (STX) surged 13%, and its trading volume rose by 230% to $165 million. Trading was primarily on Binance ($27 million), KuCoin, and Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) ($8.5 million). This surge coincides with Bitcoin reaching $34,883 for the first time since May 2022 due to the anticipated approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF appeared on the DTCC list, suggesting an imminent launch. Balchunas interprets this as a sign of BlackRock's confidence in the ETF's approval, considering their leading role in seeding, tickers, and DTCC listing logistics. According to Benzinga Pro, STX was trading at $0.73, up 12.15%.
This development comes ahead of Benzinga's Future of Digital Assets event in NYC.
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