Bitcoin's debut of the spot bitcoin ETFs reportedly sped up its latest all-time high on Tuesday morning. As word spread that the funds would soon be granted, the cryptocurrency began its serious surge in the fall of 2023. Despite the ETFs being a significant tailwind, experts agree that it would have hit a new record high anyhow.
Just two months after the ten spot bitcoin ETFs were approved and launched, Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high of almost $69,000 on Tuesday, much to everyone's excitement. Many are asking whether the new high would have occurred at such a rapid pace if the ETFs hadn't been established.
When asked, CoinFund managing partner and head of liquid investments Seth Ginns said no. The new all-time high would have occurred regardless of the ETFs, but he speculated that the flows of these funds had likely sped up the cycle.
According to data from BitMEX, the spot funds have accumulated just shy of 163,000 tokens, even though Grayscale's GBTC has lost over 200,000 bitcoin from its holdings since the ETF launch in January. More than 196,000 bitcoins are held by BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC, respectively.
The seasoned futures and options trader and managing director of TJM Institutional Services, Jim Iuorio, stated, "I definitely think the introduction of the ETF was a significant tailwind and, without it, we wouldn't be at all time highs.".
According to Iuorio, the current political climate is at the heart of the recent rally, which is fueling ETFs but also taking into account expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut benchmark interest rates in the near future and the end of the Bank Term Funding Program, an emergency platform implemented in 2023 to prevent a banking crisis.
Iuorio stated that the bid in all crypto constitutes a "no confidence" vote about the management of fiat currencies and the possibility of the Federal Reserve resuming quantitative easing and accommodating policies to provide a hand when needed.
Much of the nearly tripling in price of the token in 2023 occurred after BlackRock in June expressed its intention to launch a spot fund and Grayscale was successful in its legal battle against the SEC's denial of its spot ETF aspirations; this was on top of the approximately 50% rally in bitcoin since the ETFs went live in January.
There is no question that ETFs are playing a starring role," stated Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, when asked about the current factors influencing the price of bitcoin. "Investors, advisors, and institutions who were previously reluctant to purchase bitcoin directly from cryptocurrency exchanges are now willing to do so thanks to the ETF wrapper, which has opened up a substantial new demand stream."
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