On Tuesday morning, Bitcoin (BTC) reached a 17-month peak, propelled by one of its strongest Mondays in history. This surge came as the market processed uplifting news from both Grayscale and BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) secured another triumph in its extended battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The DC Court of Appeals instructed the SEC to reconsider its prior rejection of Grayscale’s proposal to transition its bitcoin closed-ended trust to an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
A successful transition like this could set the stage for Bitcoin to trade on mainstream platforms, potentially introducing a significant amount of institutional funds into the crypto domain.
In another positive development, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust has earned a position within the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the principal entity supervising Nasdaq trade clearances.
These consecutive news stories have been well-received by the markets, propelling Bitcoin beyond the $35,000 mark for the first time since May 2022.
Although the BTC/USDT trading pair faced a hurdle at $35,280, Bitcoin still hovers impressively around the $33,800 mark.
Predictably, Monday’s impressive rally took a toll on short-bitcoin futures contracts. In just a day, contracts valued at over $275 million were obliterated.
The bullish news wave also lifted Ethereum (ETH), the second most prominent cryptocurrency, though its rise was more subdued compared to Bitcoin. On Monday, the ETH/USDT pair rose by 6% and saw an additional 2% uptick this morning.
Currently, ether is trading slightly above $1,800.
Major altcoins also saw positive momentum. Solana (SOL) led the pack, closely followed by Polygon (MATIC) and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Nevertheless, Bitcoin continues to overshadow others, with its dominance (a metric comparing Bitcoin’s market capitalization against the entire cryptocurrency market) soaring to its highest this year at 53.9%.
