A week of gains inspired by BlackRock’s plans to create a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) and SEC’s approval of the first leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF helped Bitcoin surpass the $31K mark
On Friday, Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, reached a $31-thousand price milestone. The positive market sentiment started growing as soon as BlackRock, the largest investment company globally, announced it was eyeing the first crypto spot ETF in the United States.
In a few days, the EDX Markets exchange, backed by investment firms Charles Schwab, Fidelity and Citadel Securities, also announced that it will allow trading select cryptocurrencies. The unabated interest of large institutions towards the crypto space somehow overshadowed the increasing regulatory scrutiny and negative sentiment that plagued the industry since the FTX bankruptcy.
Moreover, on Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the first leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF Volatility Shares 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITX). The new fund is scheduled to launch on the Chicago Board Options (CBOE) BZX Exchange next Tuesday, June 27. It is seeking “investment results that correspond to two times (2x) the return of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Bitcoin Futures Daily Roll Index.”
Bitcoin has gained nearly 25% in value since BlackRock’s filing. It rose as high as $31,458 on Friday, the highest level since June 7, 2022. Today, it is trading at $30,536.
Besides, the approval of a leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF gives a slight ray of hope that the SEC is not hostile to the crypto industry as a whole, especially considering that Bitcoin is generally considered a commodity rather than a security, placing it beyond the SEC’s remit.
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