Proactive Investors - The price of Bitcoin has popped Thursday after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
As many such ETFs from firms like BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity and others begin trading, the price of Bitcoin climbed 2.5% Thursday morning to $46,531.
This is a historic moment for Bitcoin, analysts at Wedbush wrote in a note to clients, and markets are feeling the effects.
“During the past 24 hours, about $280 million in open positions were liquidated, divided between both long and short positions, according to data provided by CoinGlass,” the analysts wrote. “Naturally, Bitcoin accounted for the bulk of these liquidations with about $87 million of the liquidated long positions accounting for a share of $53 million.”
They continued, “Today and in the coming days, they will tell us about the aspirations of the market in all its categories, whether individuals or institutional investors, for the future of Bitcoin by monitoring the performance of the ETFs in their first sessions. This is because these funds will provide the opportunity for all categories of investors alike to invest in Bitcoin.”
Notably, the spot ETFs allow investors to get exposure to Bitcoin without holding any of the cryptocurrency itself.
Perhaps as a result, shares of Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) — two places investors can buy Bitcoin — fell 3.4% and 2.4%, respectively.
“The performance of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin ETFs may remain dependent on the overall market sentiment to some extent,” the analysts added. “We continue to see mixed performance in the stock market in recent weeks, with fears that interest rates will remain high for a longer period than expected, which may hinder growth and the flows of investor funds into the market in its various categories.”