Bitcoin is heading for one of its strongest weeks of the year, buoyed by speculation that proposed exchange-traded funds potentially herald new sources of demand for the largest digital asset.
The token edged below $30,000 as of 10:05 a.m. Friday in Singapore, leaving it on course for a 13% weekly gain, the most for such a timespan since March. Smaller coins like XRP, Cardano, and Solana dipped on the day.
BlackRock Inc.’s surprise June 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is among a flurry of US applications to start ETFs investing in spot Bitcoin. The SEC has resisted such funds but the heft of the world’s largest asset manager has led some to argue the agency might yet be persuaded.
“An approval would profoundly impact the market structure of Bitcoin, as it would reduce the barriers for financial advisers to offer exposure” to the token, Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research, wrote in a note.
Aside from the ETF filings, crypto proponents seized on the start of a digital asset exchange, EDX Markets, as evidence that traditional financial players see a future for the market. EDX Markets is backed by firms including Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Charles Schwab Corp.
