The price of Bitcoin has experienced its largest surge since the 2022 cryptocurrency market crash.
On Wednesday (Dec. 6), Bitcoin was trading at over $44,000, a significant increase from the $17,000 it was trading at earlier in 2024 after the collapse of the Terra LUNA cryptocurrency led to a major sell-off in the sector. This led to concerns about the recovery of the crypto market.
In addition to the surge in Bitcoin’s price, other cryptocurrencies have also seen increases, with Ethereum (ETH) up 10% in the last week, Solano (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Dogecoin (DOGE) experiencing increases between 7% and 27% in the last week. This surge coincides with blockchain messaging service Wormside’s receipt of $225 million in funding, which is the largest market raise for crypto in 2024.
The recovery has been especially welcomed by El Salvador, the country with the largest federal holdings of bitcoin in the world. It is now expected to see a profit from its investment in the market for the first time since 2021.
Hope of US ETF approval driving Bitcoin price
The price of Bitcoin has been boosted by renewed calls for the US to approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would attract more mainstream investment into the crypto sphere.
Approval of the ETF would be a significant milestone for Bitcoin, validating it as a conventional asset. However, despite ongoing discussions, nothing concrete has materialized on this topic thus far.
Analysts caution that failure to approve a cryptocurrency ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could lead to another market crash for Bitcoin.
Speaking to The Independent, research analyst for the investment firm Fineqia International, Matteo Greco, stated, “An approval from the SEC is expected to bring short-term capital influx from traditional finance investors, fueling the uptrend, while a rejection might trigger a short-term negative price action due to high expectations of approval by market participants.” Greco added, “A rejection could prompt market participants to adjust their positions, potentially leading to a downward trend in January. Analysts remain confident, however, maintaining a 90% probability of approval.”
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