Bitcoin Price Crosses $35,000, Here’s Why

The Bitcoin price barreled past the $35,000 level on multiple exchanges about an hour ago and has continued to maintain impressive bullish momentum. The reason for the surge is once again tied back to the anticipation around a potential approval of the BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF and the expectations of it triggering a bull market.

BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Listing Surfaces

The Bitcoin price rally was triggered by an image that has been circulated many times on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) showing that the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust had been listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) under the ticker IBTC.

Usually, a listing on the DTCC is taken as a step for ETFs that are ready for approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, BlackRock, which is the largest asset management company in the world, reportedly told the regulator that it plans to seed its Spot Bitcoin ETF in October. So the asset manager looks to be readying for an October launch as well.

Related Reading: ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood Reveals Why Bitcoin Will Reach $1.48 Million

As Bloomberg Analyst Eric Balchunas explains, “Seeding an ETF is when initial funding is provided (typically) by a bank or broker dealer used to purchase a few creation units (in this case bitcoin) in exchange for ETF shares which can be traded in open market on Day One.”

It should be noted that just because an ETF is listed on the DTCC does not mean that it will gain immediate approval. Some ETFs will sit on the DTCC for months or years at a time before gaining approval to trade, while some simply never launch. However, given BlackRock’s influence, expectations are the company is doing this in preparation for approval.

Bitcoin price chart from Tradingview.com

Following The Bitcoin Price Growth Trend

The Bitcoin price increase has been mostly an ‘up-only’ trend with some pits and stops along the way. In the last 24 hours, the digital asset is already up over 14% with other metrics following swiftly behind such as market cap and daily trading volume.

Bitcoin’s daily trading volume jumped over 257% since the rally began, currently sitting at $44.7 billion. Likewise, the Bitcoin open interest has seen a 6.36% increase across all exchanges, bringing total open interest to $15.05 billion at the time of writing.

The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has also jumped to a six-month high, flashing a very greedy 66. This means that investors are more willing to jump into the digital asset and the evidence of this is in its rising daily trading volumes, as mentioned above.

The Bitcoin price has since retraced from the $35,000 level but continues to trade just above $34,500 where the bulls seem to have established support. A successful retest of the $35,000 resistance would set the Bitcoin price on a path to $40,000.

Bitcoin Mania: EY Insider Reveals Demand From Wall Street Titans, $40,000 Soon?

Paul Brody, a prominent figure in the blockchain community and the Global Blockchain Leader at Ernst & Young (EY), recently shed light on the burgeoning demand for crypto, with Bitcoin taking the limelight. Earlier today, during a CNBC interview, Brody emphasized the heightened interest, particularly from family offices.

Family Offices Lead The Charge

According to Brody, family offices, which typically manage the vast wealth of affluent families, are increasingly diversifying their portfolios with cryptocurrencies. This is not entirely surprising, given the meteoric rise of Bitcoin and its potential as a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty.

However, while family offices are diving headfirst into the crypto pool, institutional investors are more cautious.

Brody mentions that these larger entities, controlling over 200 trillion dollars in assets, are awaiting regulatory clarity, such as the approval of a Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, before committing significant resources.

Bitcoin, despite comparisons, is distinctly different from traditional assets like gold. Brody highlights a unique trait of Bitcoin: its price does not result in increased issuance. Instead, the issuance of new Bitcoin reduces over time due to halving events.

This property makes its price more “rigid,” especially compared to other assets traditionally used as inflation hedges.

Moreover, the purpose behind acquiring Bitcoin varies among its buyers. Brody points out:

If you look at people who are buying Bitcoin, they are buying it as an asset. They are not buying it as a payment tool.

Brody further notes that Ethereum, another major cryptocurrency, is mostly acquired for its utility as a computing platform, particularly for business transactions and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.

Bitcoin To $40,000?

So far, Bitcoin has showcased a bullish trend, witnessing a near 10% increase over the past week and a 4.7% uptick in the last 24 hours. This surge has propelled Bitcoin to trade beyond the $31,000 mark, reaching $31,824 recently.

Observing the asset’s chart in the 1-day timeframe, BTC seems poised for even higher gains. As shown below, the asset has recently tapped into an order block and could continue its reversal to the upside, reaching a notable high.

Bitcoin (BTC) price recently taps an order block on the 1-day chart.

Additionally, considering the strong institutional demand for BTC, as revealed by Brody, coupled with the potential approval of a spot BTC ETF, a rally to the $40,000 mark seems to be on the horizon.

Furthermore, peering into the future of the financial landscape, Brody believes that traditional fiat currencies will continue to hold their ground.

However, with the ongoing discussions around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and the growing adoption of payment stablecoins, the crypto realm may be poised for evolution. 

With global political developments unfolding and pivotal elections on the horizon, Brody foresees Bitcoin and the broader crypto space experiencing accelerated growth in adoption and recognition.

Featured image from iStock, Chart from TradingView

Solana Remains Institutional Investor Darling As Inflows Continue

Solana has gained the favor of institutional investors recently which has seen a marked increase in the amount of inflows that the altcoin has recorded. This trend has continued with last week’s numbers which show a significant amount of inflows for Solana compared to the likes of Ethereum.

Solana Inflows Reach $15.5 Million

According to data from the latest CoinShares report, the inflows into Solana for the last week came out to $15.5 million. This came while some altcoins such as Ethereum saw outflows for the week. For context, Ethereum outflows reached $7.4 million in the same time frame.

As a result of the latest round of inflows, the total Solana Asses under Management (AuM) has reached $74 million. This means that the Solana AuM is up 47% year-to-date, compared to Ethereum’s which has dropped continuously this year, climbing to $119 million in outflows year-to-date.

Cardano is another altcoin that saw inflows for the week but to a lesser degree. Its inflows were $0.1 million, bringing its total AuM to $24 million, with a $6 million increase year-to-date. Other investment products saw $0.9 million, leading their AuM to reach $76 million.

Multi-asset products, however, went the way of Ethereum with outflows of $0.6 million. This brings its AuM to $1.17 billion, a $31 million decrease year-to-date.

Solan price chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin Dominates Inflows

For the same week, Bitcoin once again came out ahead in terms of inflows, with numbers topping that of Solana. The leading cryptocurrency saw $55.3 million in inflows, bringing its AuM to $24.205 billion. The asset’s month-to-date inflows are currently sitting at an impressive $111.9 million.

In the same vein, Bitcoin’s year-to-date inflows have also remained on the high side with $315 million in inflows so far. This has further solidified its position as the leading asset with the most interest from institutional investors so far.

Short Bitcoin products were also not left out of the inflow trend. Its weekly inflows sit at $1.6 million, while the month-to-date inflows came out to $4.5 million. Its year-to-date inflows sit at $46 million, bringing its AuM to $99 million. In total, the AuM of crypto investment products is nearly $33 billion.

“Following recent price appreciation, total Assets under Management (AuM) have risen by 15% since their lows in early September, now totalling nearly US$33bn, the highest point since mid-August,” the CoinShares report said.

CoinShares also notes that the inflows could be linked to the excitement and anticipation of a Spot Bitcoin ETF being approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the numbers are much lower compared to when asset manager BlackRock first announced that it had filed for a Spot Bitcoin ETF.

$35,000 The Next Key Level To Break For Bitcoin, Here’s Why

Bitcoin has now broken the $31,000 mark with its latest rally. According to on-chain data, the level could be the next major milestone for BTC.

Bitcoin Realized Price Of 2021 Holders Is $35,000 At The Moment

In a new post on X,  analyst James V. Straten has discussed the profit/loss situation of the different yearly Bitcoin buyer cohorts. The indicator of interest here is the “realized price,” which keeps track of the average price at which investors in the BTC market bought their coins.

When the asset’s spot price is below this metric, the average holder in the sector is at a loss right now. On the other hand, it being above the indicator suggests the dominance of profits among the investors.

Here, Straten hasn’t shared the chart for the ordinary realized price for the entire circulating supply but rather a few versions of the metric that only consider buyers since the start of a particular year. The chart below shows the trend in the Bitcoin realized price for each year since 2017.

Bitcoin Realized Price

As is visible in the graph, the Bitcoin realized price for all years except 2021 is below the current spot price of the cryptocurrency. This implies that the different yearly cohorts of the asset are holding their coins at some net unrealized profit.

The latest groups to enter into a state of profit have been the 2022+ and 2023+ ones. The 2021+ group has a realized price of about $35,000 at the moment, which is still a significant distance away, but as Straten has noted, the gap between the spot price and the metric is now the narrowest since the two diverged back at the start of the bear market.

Interestingly, during the peak in 2021, this group’s cost basis was around $48,000. The analyst suggests their realized price, since decreasing significantly, indicates some impressive Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) in the market.

In on-chain analysis, major cost basis levels have always played an important role, as the BTC spot price has often observed support or resistance on retests of them.

The chart shows that the Bitcoin price had found support at the 2023+ realized price back in June. The recent seemingly endless consolidation that BTC saw before the latest rally happened around the 2022+ and 2023+ metrics after they had overlapped.

Given the historical examples, the 2021+ may realize price will cause the price to react somehow when it eventually reaches there. Thus, the $35,000 level would be a significant milestone for the asset, as successfully claiming it could imply clear waters ahead for the cryptocurrency.

At the same time, however, the chances of participants buckling and harvesting their gains are increasing with all these groups coming into profits. Such profit-taking can lead to a pullback in the price, at least in the short term.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $31,200, up 11% in the past week.

Bitcoin Price Chart