Bitcoin (BTC) Price Shoots 7% As Wisdom Tree Files Bitcoin ETF

The world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) has delivered a strong upswing with the BTC price shooting nearly 7% in the last 24 hours. As of press time, Bitcoin is trading 6.74% up at a price of $28,721 and a market cap of $557 billion.

Despite the strong SEC crackdown earlier this week, institutional players particularly from traditional finance have shown great interest in stepping into the crypto game. Last week, the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock applied for a spot-Bitcoin ETF with the SEC. Other financial giants such as Fidelity Investments and WisdomTree are also making similar moves.

On the other hand, crypto exchange EDX Markets, backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets and Charles Schwab Corp. is looking to start operations soon in the country.

With traditional financial players throwing their weight behind Bitcoin, investor sentiment has improved to a great extent. Hayden Hughes, co-founder of social-trading platform Alpha Impact told Bloomberg:

“The rally is backed by institutional demand. The BlackRock announcement on a Bitcoin ETF, plus EDX Markets, gave Bitcoin a boost on hopes that traditional institutions will add depth to the crypto market.”

SEC A Hurdle To spot-Bitcoin ETF

Over the past few years, the crypto industry players have been pushing hard enough to bring a spot-Bitcoin ETF to the market. However, the SEC has denied dozens of applications in the past citing insufficient consumer protection measures and other risks.

But now with the world’s biggest financial giants throwing their weight behind this, things could be different this time. Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence said: “The BlackRock filing changed everything, that reignited the race”.

BlackRock recently submitted an application while Grayscale Investments is in a legal fight with the SEC to convert their Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. The value difference of the trust has decreased, and some believe that BlackRock’s move could help Grayscale’s case.

Traders are also interested in knowing more about the economic stimulus plans in China, as the central bank has recently reduced borrowing costs.