Bitcoin goes over $59,000 on US ETF approval report
04:45, 15 October 2021
Bitcoin’s price rose to more than $59,000 in midday Asia trading following a Bloomberg News report that US regulators are poised to greenlight exchange traded funds (ETFs) based on the digital tokens.
The bitcoin price was hovering around $59,300 at 12:00 HKT (UTC +8), a 3.7% rise on the day and part of a broader rally that has seen the digital currency’s value increase by mor than 10% in the last seven days, giving it a total market capitalisation of $1.1trn, according to CoinMarketCap.com.
The upward move was sparked by a Bloomberg report that said the US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) was minded to allow trading on two bitcoin ETFs proposed by ProShares and Invesco.
Futures ETF safer for investors
There have been a number of high profile attempts to launch the first US bitcoin ETFs, including by famed tech investor Cathy Wood, CEO of Ark Investment Management, as well as proposals by Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie.
The SEC has consistently stalled on giving approvals for these securities, but according to Bloomberg it will allow the ProShares and Invesco ETFs to start trading next week because they are based on futures and were filed under mutual fund rules that SEC chair Gary Gensler has previously said, "provides significant investor protections.”
An ETF is a type of security that tracks an index, sector, commodity, or other asset, but which can be bought or sold on a stock exchange in the same ways as a regular stock. ETFs were first launched in the US in the early 1990s.
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Muted impact on other cryptos
The impact of this development on other crypto currencies was more muted, with ethereum and litecoin up between 1% to 2%, while cardano fell back slightly in early Asian trading, according to Capital.com data.
Capital.com has contacted the SEC to confirm the Bloomberg report.
Read more: Race for first US bitcoin ETF heats-up
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