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Bitcoin is soaring, surpassing $35,000 for the first time since May 2022. It is up 20% in the last five days.
The famous volatile cryptocurrency has more than doubled in value this year as investors get excited about the prospect of being able to buy bitcoin funds that trade on traditional stock exchanges rather than having to deal with less regulated and sometimes sketchy crypto platforms (see: FTX, Binance and others).
The latest round of excitement came when BlackRock's exchange-traded fund for bitcoin appeared on a listing controlled by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., a clearinghouse for stocks and ETFs operated by Nasdaq, according to Reuters.
BlackRock applied in June to register a bitcoin spot ETF, which is pending approval. The company is the largest provider of ETFs in the world and manages trillions of dollars in assets. A BlackRock bitcoin ETF would give the cryptocurrency a new sense of legitimacy.
"This listing on the DTCC does not mean that the fund has actually been launched or that this will inevitably happen," said Samer Hasn, market analyst at online brokerage XS.com. "However, it may appear as part of BlackRock's preparations to launch the ETF soon."
Other companies have also sought approval to launch similar bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale Investments.
Although the US Securities and Exchange Commission had ruled against the Grayscale ETF, a three-judge panel for the D.C. Court of Appeals In August it annulled the regulator's decision. The panel said the regulator had not adequately explained why it rejected the company's application.
That has helped boost cryptocurrencies all summer.
Still, the SEC has not approved the fund and investors may be taking the lead.
"I think these rapid rises in bitcoin are somewhat exaggerated," Hasn said. "Regulatory and legislative concerns are still clouding this market, and I see no opportunities soon to allay these concerns while legal battles continue."
But there's another reason bitcoin may be rising: fear. As investors look to diversify their portfolios in times of uncertainty, some are turning to bitcoin, ironically as a digital haven of sorts. Sometimes called "digital gold," bitcoin has become a way for investors to expand beyond traditional stocks and bonds.
