Bitcoin (BTC) Hits New 2023-High at $35,000 Amid BlackRock’s Move

The world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has given a massive 12% breakout hitting its new high of $35,000 for the year 2023. With this move, Bitcoin has extended its year-to-date gains to more than 100%.

BlackRock Makes the Big Move

The recent development comes as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust gets listed on the DTCC – Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. Additionally, the asset management giant is also planning to seed its iShares Bitcoin ETF by the end of this month. All this indicates a step further towards the listing of the first US spot Bitcoin ETF in the coming months.

At press time, Bitcoin is trading 12.14% up at $34,449 with a market cap of $670 billion. Just within the last 24 hours, BTC has added nearly $100 billion to its market cap.

Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF

Expectations for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) have increased following recent reports. This includes the recent development that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will not challenge a court ruling that found it was unjust in denying an application from Grayscale Investments.

In a further development on Monday, October 23, the US federal court ordered the SEC to review Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF application. Analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence, Elliott Stein and James Seyffart, have expressed their belief that the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF is virtually certain, with multiple funds expected to receive approval, albeit the exact timing remains uncertain.

Speaking on the development, Justin d’Anethan, head of business development in the Asia Pacific at crypto market maker Keyrock said:

“Liquidity is somewhat better than before. Prices have now recuperated and with it a certain amount of liquidity — still nothing compared to the euphoria of 2020-2021, though.”

BTC Dodges US Equities

The recent move in BTC and the broader crypto market has been quite opposite to the one in the U.S. equity market. The volatile bond market led to Dow Jones correcting by 200 points on Monday. BTC is showing hedge-like characteristics by reversing its trajectory.