Bitcoin Price Reaches 21-Month High, Even as ETF Applications Remain Partially Empty One Week Before Getting Approved

Highlights:

• The price of bitcoin surged more than 6% over the weekend to hit a 21-month high and break through key resistance at $45,000.
• Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart notes that the January 9-10 approval window remains intact.
• Most applicants have yet to name their authorized participants, including Grayscale, which did not name anyone in its latest amendment.

Bitcoin price continues to rise regardless

The price of bitcoin saw an increase of more than 6% over the New Year’s weekend as bitcoin hit $45,000 as we enter 2024. This is a major milestone for the altcoin, as it is the highest the cryptocurrency has traded at in the past 21 months. The last time BTC was at this level was after April 2022, when the bear market peaked and came to a halt after taking the digital asset to $18,200.

Bitcoin has yet to break through the $45,259 resistance level despite the rally. This line has acted as a major support and resistance level throughout February, March, and April 2022, and is currently acting as a barrier as well. BTC did manage to cross it during the intra-day trading hours, but it fell back down to close below it.

RSI is well above neutral in bullish territory, indicating that there is still plenty of steam left to push higher. This is consistent with the expected approval of the BTC ETF next week, which would be catalytic.

Turning $45,259 into support would definitely act as the first step towards reclaiming $50,000 for Bitcoin.

The price of bitcoin made headlines over the weekend as it reclaimed a key resistance level as support for the first time in nearly two years. Bullishness ahead of the expected approval of the spot BTC ETF is showing its effect on the cryptocurrency, even as top applicants, including the likes of Grayscale, leave their applications partially incomplete.

There are three important aspects of the bitcoin spot ETF application process that an applicant must have in place before they can launch their investment products. These are the Authorized Participant (AP), the fees, and the seed capital. These factors are irrelevant to the average investor. However, as they are part of the process, they need to be addressed soon.

At this point, most of these details, which include names like Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, and Hashdex, have yet to be submitted by about half of the applicants. Even before the aforementioned factors are addressed, some of them have already started their marketing campaign.

Most of the spaces (N/A) in the table below are expected to be filled by next week’s deadline for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval, according to Bloomberg ETF analysts. The window for a green light from the regulator is January 8-10, and applicants must have the nitty-gritty of filing down.

The reiteration comes on the heels of Grayscale’s recent filing. Grayscale has amended its filing to mention clear cash only creation/redemption, but has yet to name an AP. Additionally, in its filing to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a Spot BTC ETF, the asset manager did not provide any fee details.