On January 10, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, and 13 other institutional giants to launch the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. This development brought renewed optimism among cryptocurrency proponents, as BlackRock boasts over $8 trillion in assets under management and an impressive track record of ETF approvals.
BlackRock’s track record includes 575 approvals with only one ETF rejection in its history. With the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, this record now stands at 576-1. This robust approval history was one of the key factors that led analysts and market experts to anticipate approval even before the SEC’s decision.
Following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the crypto community has already begun speculating about the potential approval of a spot Ether ETF in May. BlackRock submitted an application for a spot Ether ETF in November 2023. The SEC is expected to make a decision on this application by May 23, and many cryptocurrency proponents believe that a spot Ether ETF could receive approval.
Bloomberg senior analyst Eric Balchunas, who had previously given a 95% chance of spot Bitcoin ETF applications being approved, now believes there is a 70% chance of an Ether ETF approval in May.
On the day of the BTC ETF approval, the price of Ether surged by 10%. However, Bitcoin’s price remained within a similar range throughout the day, briefly dipping below $46,000 before recovering. These developments mark significant milestones in the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency ETFs in the United States.
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