Shares of public crypto companies listed in the US experienced a surge on Monday as Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed $42,000, reaching a new high for the year. This surge in value has attracted the attention of investors and traders, leading to a positive bullish sentiment for the year ahead.
Impressive Gains for Crypto Companies
Popular crypto exchange Coinbase saw a 7.3% surge before the market opened, indicating a strong investor interest in cryptocurrencies. Microstrategy, a prominent bitcoin investor, also experienced an 8.2% gain. Bitcoin mining companies such as Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and CleanSpark saw impressive jumps of 9.7% to 12.0%, respectively, adding to their double-digit gains from November.
Anticipation of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund
The approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is expected to have a significant impact on investment appetite, as it would provide easier regulation, increased appeal, and simplified investment processes. Traders are speculating on the imminent approval of stock market-traded Bitcoin funds, contributing to the current surge in prices.
“What we have right now is a risk rally, and bitcoin is also benefiting big time by falling yields,” explains Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank. “There is also this positive bullish sentiment into next year because it is going to be the year of halving.”
“Historical trends have shown that bitcoin prices tend to rally following halvings,” Ozkardeskaya said.
Earlier this year, investor sentiment toward cryptocurrencies and related assets was lukewarm due to high-profile collapses in 2022, leading to significant outflows from the sector. However, the recent rally has propelled bitcoin’s value up by over 150% in 2023, positioning it for its best annual performance since 2020.
