The price of Bitcoin has seen its biggest value boost since the 2022 cryptocurrency market crash.
On Wednesday (Dec. 6) Bitcoin was trading above $44,000, a far cry away from the $17,000 it was trading at during early 2023 – after the collapse of the Terra LUNA cryptocurrency ignited the biggest sell-off in the history of the sector last November. Leading many in the industry to wonder if crypto would ever recover from the crash.
The price surge for Bitcoin comes amidst boosts for other cryptocurrencies – with Ethereum (ETH) up 10% in the last week, Solano (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) up between 7% and 27% in the last week as well. This surge comes alongside blockchain messaging service Wormside receiving $225m in funding – the largest market raise of 2023 for crypto.
The recovery has been welcome news for many, but especially the country of El Salvador – which yields the most federal holdings of bitcoin in the world – which now looks at a profit from its investment in the market for the first time since 2021.
Hope of US ETF approval drives Bitcoin price
Bitcoin’s price has been reinforced by renewed calls for the US to approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) – which would invite more mainstream investment into the crypto sphere.
Approval would be a milestone achievement for Bitcoin and validation it is a conventional asset. However, there have been discussions for years on this topic with nothing having been motioned so far.
Although analysts do warn that failure to approve an ETF for cryptocurrencies, by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), could result in another crash for the bitcoin market.
Speaking to The Independent, research analyst for the investment firm Fineqia International Matteo Greco said:
“An approval (from the SEC) is expected to bring short-term capital influx from the traditional finance investors, fuelling the uptrend, while a rejection might trigger a short-term negative price action due to high expectations of approval by market participants.”
“A rejection could prompt market participants to adjust their positions, potentially leading to a downward trend in January. Analysts remain confident, however, maintaining a 90% probability of approval.”
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