Bitcoin held onto the $34,000 support line heading into the mid-week session, following a dramatic Tuesday that saw the benchmark cryptocurrency surge to 17-month highs before knocking off half of its intraday gains.
There appeared to be confusion over the progress of BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund, with commentators noting its addition to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.’s website.
Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas originally Tweeted the DTCC listing, sending the market into a speculative frenzy.
As with most hype rallies, the news was overblown, with the DTCC stating that a listing is “not indicative of an outcome for any outstanding regulatory or other approval processes” but merely “standard practice...in preparation for the launch of a new ETF”.
Regardless, progress with spot-bitcoin ETFs is still gaining momentum, with Grayscale appearing on the verge of victory over its wrangle with US regulators for its own exchange-traded product.
Such an approval would be a watershed moment for bitcoin, and the markets have reacted accordingly, with the BTC/USDT pair trading significantly higher than the 200-day moving average trendline.
Trading volumes have reached four-month highs, while bitcoin dominance, being a measure of bitcoin’s market capitalisation against the broader crypto markets, has skyrocketed to 54%, a level last seen in April 2021.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is currently at 72, a level of positive sentiment not been since the FT collapse in November 2021.
Bitcoin is around 16% higher over the past six months – Source: tradingview.com
The second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) saw a strong retraction on Tuesday compared to bitcoin, having rallied higher than $1,850 before closing the session nearer to $1,780.
Some incremental gains pushed ETH/USDT higher this morning, with the pair currently swapping for $1,789.
Solana (SOL) remains the top mover in the large-cap altcoin space, having added more than 30% in the past week, while Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have also posted double-digit weekly gains.
Global cryptocurrency market cap currently stands at $1.25 trillion.
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