Bitcoin at the highest since 2021 at 57 thousand dollars in value. Since the beginning of the year it has gained over 32%. Another cryptocurrency, Ether, did better than Bitcoin, rising by 41% in one month. The reason is that among operators there is growing anticipation for the possible approval by the US regulatory authorities of spot ETFs also on this crypto as is already happening on Bitcoin.
The market is awaiting the green light for spot ETFs also on Ethereum
“The prospect of an Ethereum spot ETF is a further development for traders and investors following the recent launch of bitcoin ETFs,” he said in a note. Nick Crawley, senior strategist at DailyFX– It represents a further maturation of the cryptocurrency market and a recognition of Ethereum’s role in the future of cryptocurrencies within the financial system.”
Microstrategy is the largest publicly traded owner of Bitcoin
The jump in Bitcoin has also favored the shares of crypto-related companies in the US. Like MicroStrategy, a software company that buys Bitcoin as part of its business strategy, which grew by 16%. While trading platform Coinbase Global rose 17% and mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings jumped 22%. Among the factors that supported the recent surge (+10% in the last four sessions) there is also the communication of further purchases by MicroStrategy. The transaction involves approximately 3 thousand bitcoins, for an amount of approximately 155 million dollars. The company is currently the largest publicly traded owner of Bitcoin: as of early February, it held around 190,000 tokens, currently worth more than $10.5 billion.
Net inflows of over $6 billion into Bitcoin ETFs
It should be noted that the start of trading of spot ETFs on Bitcoin in the USA on 11 January recorded net inflows of 6.1 billion dollars, with a notable expansion of the investor base. The increase in the price of Bitcoin also reflects the anticipation for the imminent “halving”, the halving of the token supply, scheduled for April.
This process is designed to slow the release of bitcoin, the supply of which is limited to 21 million, of which 19 million have already been mined, halving the reward to so-called “miners” for producing the tokens. The social media platform Reddit, which filed for listing on the New York Stock Exchange on February 22, also said it had invested a small portion of its liquidity reserves in bitcoin, ether and matic, the native token of the Polygon network, as a form of payment for the sale of some virtual goods.