Bitcoin extended a rally fueled by expectations of fresh demand from exchange-traded funds, reaching the highest price since May last year.
The largest digital asset rose as much as 10.3% before paring some of the increase to trade at $33,450 as of 6:49 a.m. in Singapore on Tuesday, taking its year-to-date rebound from last year’s digital-asset rout to 102%.
The possible approval in coming weeks of the first US spot Bitcoin ETFs is stoking speculative demand for the token. Asset managers BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments are among those in the race to offer such products.
A US federal appeals court on Monday also formalized a victory for Grayscale Investments LLC in its bid to create a spot Bitcoin ETF over objections from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The SEC has so far resisted allowing ETFs that invest directly in Bitcoin, citing risks such as fraud and manipulation in the underlying market. The applications from investment titans stoked speculation that the agency will relent.
The advance in Bitcoin stirred bets on other cryptocurrencies too. Smaller tokens such as Ether, Solana and meme favorite Dogecoin also posted gains.
“Liquidity is somewhat better than before,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of business development in the Asia Pacific at crypto market maker Keyrock. “Prices have now recuperated and with it a certain amount of liquidity — still nothing compared to the euphoria of 2020-2021, though.”
Bitcoin remains well below its pandemic-era record high of almost $69,000 hit in 2021, reflecting the crash in digital prices last year and blowups like the fall of the FTX exchange.
