Bitcoin soars to 17-month high!

Bitcoin is now trading at levels not seen since May 2022!

The world’s oldest and largest crypto briefly broke above the psychologically-important $35,000 mark today, before easing slightly lower.

Still, at the time of writing, Bitcoin now has a remarkable year-to-date advance of 106%.

Why is Bitcoin soaring?

There are fresh hopes that a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be launched in the months ahead.

A Bitcoin ETF promises easier and greater access to the crypto for investors.

Exchange-traded funds, as the name implies, are traded on regular stock exchanges just like regular stocks.

Hence, everyday retail investors can invest into Bitcoin via the ETF using existing stock brokers, without having to go through the hassle of buying the underlying crypto (nor having to open a new account with yet another broker that offers crypto).

To be clear, a Bitcoin ETF has not yet been approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

However, crypto fans have already sent Bitcoin prices soaring on expectations that the first Bitcoin ETF approval will come soon, and ultimately unleash more demand for the underlying crypto.

Here are some recent key developments:

• This week, a US court formalised a recent legal victory for Grayscale Investments LLC in its bid to create a Bitcoin ETF.
  
  Now, it’s up to the SEC to decide if or when they’ll approve such an ETF, with similar applications also pending from Wall Street titans such as BlackRock, which is the largest asset-manager in the world.
  
  Going by industry watchers, the first Bitcoin ETF(s) may only be formally approved by year-end, or no later than Q1 2024.

• Furthermore, according to Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (with the ticker IBTC – iShares Bitcoin Trust) has been listed on the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp (DTCC).
  
  In fewer words, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF appears to be taking a major step towards approval.

Where to next for Bitcoin – a new all-time high?

Perhaps not yet.

While this initial surge in optimism has already sent Bitcoin to a 17-month high, it would take a lot more money to continue pouring into Bitcoin to send this crypto’s prices to a new all-time high (current ATH was posted on November 10th, 2021, just shy of $69k).

It’s one thing to double Bitcoin prices so far this year, from around $16k at the onset of 2023 to the current $34k.

It’s another matter to send prices to $100k, which would be almost 200% higher from current levels.

In order to reach a new ATH, Bitcoin would need:

1. Predicted inflows/demand from Bitcoin ETF, once approved, to actually come flooding in
    
2. A conducive risk-on environment in global financial markets

Note that risk-assets (including crypto) may find it a tough environment to sustain greater heights, in light of US Treasury yields at multi-year highs with the Federal Reserve intending to keep demand-destroying US interest rates higher for longer.

Then there’s also the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, along with a souring global economic outlook, all of which tend to dampen risk-taking activities in global financial markets.

Granted, all this could change in the months ahead, which could in turn create a Bitcoin-bulls friendly environment.

But in the meantime, crypto bulls may have to exercise more patience and keep HODL-ing in the weeks or months ahead, as they wait on the near-term fate of Bitcoin ETFs.

Ultimately ...

The official seal of approval by the SEC for a first-ever Bitcoin ETF(s) is likely to spur on prices of the underlying crypto to higher heights, provided the assumed demand from retail investors do flood in.

Bitcoin bulls (those betting that prices will move higher) are likely to next aim for the $40k handle, which was a key battleground between bulls and bears between January and early-May 2022.

However, if the SEC pulls the rug from under the current Bitcoin ETF-mania, prices would have no qualms scurrying back into sub-$30k domain once more.