BTC Soars Over $34,300 in Surprise Surge Possibly Linked to BlackRock Bitcoin ETF

By Tsunami 10/24/23 1:33 AM

In a stunning turn of events, Bitcoin’s price skyrocketed to over $34,300 today, marking its first time above the $34,000 threshold since May of the previous year. According to data from TradingView, Bitcoin experienced a sudden surge of more than 12%, rising from approximately $31,000 to $34,300. Just minutes later, the cryptocurrency began a slight retracement and is currently trading at around $32,900. This significant growth in the world’s largest cryptocurrency comes amid heightened expectations of a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF).

BTC/USDT 4 hours chart on Binance | Source: TradingView

Last week, rumors of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF receiving approval from the United States saw the price of Bitcoin increase by 8%, pushing it above $30,000. While Bitcoin quickly retraced to the $28,000 range, the continued increase in its value in the days following demonstrates the optimism within the crypto community.

Analyst Scott Johnson speculates that the financial giant BlackRock is likely to initiate funding for the ETF within this month. On the other hand, various experts from Bloomberg and JPMorgan believe that the U.S. will approve a series of Bitcoin ETFs before January 10, 2024.

In addition to these positive speculations, on the morning of October 24, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF unexpectedly appeared on the website of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). According to Nasdaq, DTCC is a platform that provides customs clearance, depository, and post-trade information services.

Currently, the iShares Bitcoin Trust is under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with other spot Bitcoin ETFs. Nevertheless, DTCC listing BlackRock’s fund under the ticker “IBTC” further solidifies investors’ confidence in the possibility of the United States soon having its first spot Bitcoin ETF.

“This is the first ETF listed on DTCC. Notably, BlackRock is leading the steps needed before launching the ETF (creating the ETF fund, security identifier, DTCC). They can hardly do this unless they are certain of the ETF’s approval,” shared Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, on Twitter. Balchunas clarified that seeding an ETF typically involves initial funding provided by a bank or broker-dealer to purchase a few creation units, in this case, Bitcoin, in exchange for ETF shares that can be traded on the open market on the first day.

Balchunas noted that seeding typically doesn’t involve a significant amount of money but signifies another crucial step in the process of launching the ETF. Therefore, it shouldn’t be interpreted as BlackRock buying an enormous amount of Bitcoin but rather as a noteworthy disclosure in the ETF’s development journey.

BlackRock stating in their recent spot Bitcoin ETF amendment that they are seeding the ETF in October. Don’t want to read that much into it but it is new info not in original filing so noteworthy (esp bc they BlackRock). Great catch by Scott. https://t.co/CGBmuTJ7W0

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 23, 2023

The increasing speculation around the approval of a Bitcoin ETF and BlackRock’s involvement appears to have driven Bitcoin’s sudden surge, providing a glimmer of hope for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors. As the crypto market continues to evolve, the potential launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. remains a significant development to watch in the coming months.

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