After a Monday morning rally that saw the price of Bitcoin shoot past $31,000, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap got a second wind hours later, surpassing $34,000 later in the day, according to data from CoinGecko.
The new benchmark set a record high for 2023, reaching values not seen since last May, triggered a torrent of BTC shorts, leading to $114 million in liquidation in the last hour—and $145 million in total across crypto assets, according to analytics firm CoinGlass.
Image: Coinglass
On leading crypto exchange Coinbase, BTC was trading at a premium closer to $35,000.
The pair of rallies to start the week have been attributed to building anticipation over the pending approval of Bitcoin spot ETF applications by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Earlier today, a Washington, D.C. judge officially ordered the SEC to take another look at a long-delayed and litigated spot Bitcoin ETF application from Grayscale, after the regulatory agency failed to respond to an earlier court inquiry.
Also today, global investment giant BlackRock updated its own application to note that it had started to take the preliminary steps needed to launch its Bitcoin spot ETF, including allocating funds and securing a ticker symbol. The moves don't guarantee an approval is coming, but they suggest confidence the SEC will eventually do so.
Crypto analysts are saying that both price spikes have pierced market resistance thresholds at $31,000 and $34,000 respectively, a bullish sign. Popular Crypto Twitter commentator Rekt Capital says the price action is likely to disprove the "Bearish Bitcoin Fractal," a pricing model that assumes price could rally to record highs before additional downside pulls it back down.
Ethereum's Pectra upgrade went live without a hitch—but it didn't serve as rocket fuel for ETH's price.
The world's second-largest cryptocurrency was trading sideways after the long-awaited code changes were finalized on Wednesday.
ETH is currently hovering at about $1,830, meaning it's continuing to trade 40% lower than it was this time last year.
It was a similar story after Ethereum completed "The Merge," and made the ambitious switch from proof of work to proof of stake consensus.
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The Himalayan country of Bhutan has partnered with Binance Pay to enable crypto payments throughout its tourism ecosystem.
The integration, powered in conjunction with Bhutan’s local DK Bank, will reportedly allow tourists visiting the country to pay for things such as airline tickets, visa fees, hotel stays, monument entry, tour guides, and street food from roadside stalls with cryptocurrencies.
Experience #Bhutan with the world’s first national crypto tourism payment system!
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eToro has launched the roadshow for its U.S. IPO, with the Israel-based trading platform targeting a valuation as high as $4 billion.
The company also touted its legitimacy in the crypto industry.
"From its earliest days, eToro has been a pioneer in the crypto space," eToro CEO Yoni Assia wrote in the filing. "This has in part been driven by my own early adoption of and personal belief in bitcoin and the transformative potential of blockchain technology."
An updated F-1 registration form clarifi...