Bitcoin Spot ETF Approved, Ethereum Explodes 20% Weekly, and More: This Week’s Crypto Recap

What a week…

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission finally greenlighted a spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). Those of you who’ve been following the industry for many years know that this has been one of the most highly-anticipated moments, and it’s absolutely monumental how far the industry has come in 2024.

But the process itself was particularly scuffed, to say the least. First, the SEC’s X account was compromised, and the attacker tweeted (falsely) that the ETF was approved. This happened before the much-awaited deadline, and it caused a stir in the market, driving BTC’s price up and down like a rollercoaster. Chairman Gensler was quick to confirm the security breach.

A couple of days later, when the final decision was supposed to come in, the SEC’s website saw the official order published, which gave the green light to spot Bitcoin ETFs. The community was ecstatic… for a moment. Minutes after the link leading to the order was published, it was taken down, causing many to wonder whether this wasn’t the work of yet another wrongdoer.

After a back-and-forth that lasted a few hours, the ETF was finally confirmed. The price went into a rampage of volatility, reaching $49K and crashing by $3K almost immediately after.

Despite this monumental week for BTC, it only managed to increase by some 2.8% and is trading below $45K at the time of this writing.

But that’s not everything.

Ethereum seems to be the bigger winner this week, as ETH’s price soared by a whopping 20% after the BTC ETF was approved. The reason seems simple in hindsight. The SEC gave the go-ahead to a spot BTC ETF strengthens the odds of it doing the same with an ETH ETF, and there are quite a bit few applications filed for that, too.

In fact, BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager, has one filed for ETH, as well. Larry Fink, the company’s CEO, said today that he sees a lot of value in the Commission giving the green light to an ETH ETF as well.

Amid all this, Circle – the company issuing the world’s second-largest stablecoin (USDC) – announced plans to go public.

It’s also worth noting that all of this happened just a few months before the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving event, so it seems that we are in for an exciting 2024!

Market Data

Market Cap: $1.816T | 24H Vol: $145B | BTC Dominance: 47.9%

BTC: $44,484 (+2%) | ETH: $2,663 (+18.5%) | BNB: $306 (-2.9%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Better Not Miss

It’s Official: SEC Approves Bitcoin Spot ETFs For Trade In The United States. The long wait is finally over. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission gave the go-ahead for a spot Bitcoin ETF in an unprecedented move earlier this week.

Bitcoin ETF Volumes Top $4 Billion With 700,000 Trades on Day 1. It was a very volatile day following the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF. The investment product itself saw combined trading volume exceeding $4 billion on the first day after its launch (across multiple providers).

Fake News: SEC Twitter Account Compromised. The launch of the spot BTC ETF wasn’t without any hiccups. A couple of days before it happened, the SEC’s X account was compromised. The perpetrator published a fake tweet of approval, sending the market into a spiral of volatility and resulting in hundreds of millions worth of liquidated leverage positions.

USDC Issuer Circle Files for US IPO. Circle, the company that issues the world’s second-largest stablecoin (USDC), will be going after an initial public offering (IPO). Further details, such as the proposed number of shares and a price range, are yet to be revealed.

Very Important Update Concerning Ripple (XRP). Ripple – the company behind XRP – will be buying back $285 million worth of its own shares from early investors and employees – according to Reuters. The tender would value the company at a whopping $11.3 billion.

Fundstrat Predicts Bitcoin Could Hit $500k Within Five Years. One of the most popular research companies with a focus on cryptocurrencies and a veteran participant in the industry – Fundstrat – sees Bitcoin reaching a whopping $500K price within the next five years. The reason hides, in part, within the approval of spot BTC ETFs.