Bitcoin (BTC-USD) gapped up in Monday morning trading on optimism a bitcoin exchange-traded fund could finally get approved in the near future.
The original cryptocurrency jumped 4.9% to $28.1K at 10:49 a.m. ET, erasing all losses over the last week, after reaching as high as $30K early in the session.
The surge comes shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly decided to not appeal the recent Grayscale Investment ruling that overturned the regulator’s rejection of Grayscale’s bid to launch a bitcoin (BTC-USD) ETF.
That still doesn’t guarantee that Grayscale will convert its bitcoin trust (OTC:GBTC) into an ETF, as the SEC could again deny the request, though it does allow Grayscale’s application to move forward.
“This news was well-received by investors, notably reflected in the narrowing discount of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC:GBTC), which currently sits at 15.9%,” Matteo Greco, research analyst at digital asset and fintech investment firm Fineqia International, wrote in a note. “This is the lowest level recorded since December 2021. The discount narrowing trend commenced in mid-June 2023 when BlackRock filed for its Bitcoin Spot ETF. Back then, the GBTC discount was approximately 43%.”
Note bitcoin’s (BTC-USD) abrupt spike to $30K came on the back of a false report that the iShares spot BTC ETF had been approved by the SEC, CNBC reported, noting BlackRock (BLK) said its application is still under review by the regulator.
With hopes of the approval of what would be the U.S.’s first-ever spot BTC ETF sending crypto prices higher, crypto-related stocks also saw gains. MicroStrategy (MSTR) +6.7%, Coinbase Global (COIN) +2.8%, Core Scientific (OTCPK:CORZQ) +12.1%, Marathon Digital (MARA) +4.2% and CleanSpark (CLSK) +10.2% were among some of the biggest intraday winners.