Bitcoin is back. The world’s largest digital asset has surged to a new high for the year, topping $35,000 during Asian trading. Moreover, institutional appetite has returned with the fourth consecutive week of inflows to crypto products.
Bitcoin (BTC) prices have reached their highest level since May 2022, tapping $35,066 during the Tuesday morning Asian trading session.
Bitcoin Back in Favor for Institutions
The asset has built upon weekend momentum, surging an additional 14.5% over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC was changing hands for $34,727 after gaining 22% since the same time last week.
Moreover, the asset is now back to 50% down from its November 2021 peak price of $69,000.
The big move has been bolstered by spot exchange-traded fund fervor and heightened expectations.
Analysts have observed that asset manager BlackRock has secured a specific license. Furthermore, it may begin the process of “seeding” its spot ETF product with cash as early as this month. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas explained:
“Seeding an ETF is when initial funding is provided (typically) by a bank or broker-dealer used to purchase a few creation units (in this case bitcoin) in exchange for ETF shares which can be traded in open market on Day One.”
However, he added that seeding is typically not a lot of money, just enough to get ETF going. “So I wouldn’t read this as ‘omg BlackRock is buying a ton of Bitcoin’ at all,” he said.
Read more: How To Buy Bitcoin With PayPal: A Step-by-Step Guide
Nevertheless, institutional investors are piling back into crypto products with a fourth consecutive week of inflows.
Institutional inflows hit $66 million with Bitcoin products dominating with $55 million in inflows, according to CoinShares.
“Most recent inflows are likely linked to excitement over a spot Bitcoin ETF launch in the US,” it stated.
Investor Caution
Total assets under management have risen by 15% since their lows in early September. They now total almost $33 billion, the highest point since mid-August.
However, CoinShares noted that the inflows were “relatively low in comparison to the initial inflows following BlackRock’s announcement in June.”
Read more: 12 Best Bitcoin Exchanges and Platforms in 2023
Furthermore, Ethereum (ETH) products remain bearish with weekly outflows of $7.4 million.
Nevertheless, total market capitalization on spot markets has been lifted to $1.22 trillion. This is its highest level since early August as Bitcoin leads markets upwards adding most of those gains.
Altcoin gains were around 5-6% and there were no double-digit pumps in the top 30 aside from the king of crypto, BTC.
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