On Tuesday, the price of Bitcoin exceeded the $45,000 mark for the first time since April 2022. This was largely boosted by market optimism that a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to receive approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Last year, Bitcoin prices rose 156%, its strongest year since 2020. Today, the price of Bitcoin hit another 21-month high, reaching $45,532, but it is still far below the high of $69,000 set in November 2021.
Meanwhile, the price of Ether also rose 2.6% today to $2,414. Last year, the price of Ethereum surged 91%.
In addition, some digital cryptocurrency stocks also rose sharply in today's pre-market trading, with Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital and CleanSpark maintaining gains between 11.3% and 14.8%. Coinbase gained 6.3%, while MicroStrategy gained 9.4%.
Currently, investor attention is focused on whether the SEC will soon approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, which would open the market to millions of investors and attract billions of dollars in investment.
In recent years, the SEC has rejected multiple applications to launch physical Bitcoin ETFs on the grounds that the cryptocurrency market is susceptible to manipulation. But in recent months, there have been growing signs that the SEC is preparing to approve at least some of the proposed 13 spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Chris Weston, director of research at broker Pepperstone, said that if it is rejected by the SEC again, the market's reaction will be clear and it may plunge immediately. According to plan, the SEC will issue a formal reply before January 10.