Bitcoin ETF race begins: Has institutional trust returned to crypto?
Seven institutional firms have filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., including the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock, driving optimism and higher Bitcoin prices. With the Bitcoin (BTC) halving event less than a year away, several financial giants have filed applications for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) — a scenario last seen before the 2020 to 2021 bull run. Institutional interest in the sector dried up after major crypto giants such as FTX collapsed amid a prolonged crypto winter in 2022. Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies traded largely sideways as several crypto exchanges fell under regulatory scrutiny. However, on news that major financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Valkyrie and others were filing applications to list a spot Bitcoin ETF, the price of BTC recovered to over $30,000, spurring investment into the crypto market again. Bitcoin one-month price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap While several institutional giants have filed spot Bitco...