BitcoinBTC and crypto prices have rocketed higher this week, surging after a Wall Street giant made a shock bitcoin price declaration.
The bitcoin price has topped $35,000 per bitcoin, its highest level on more than a year as hype over BlackRock’sBLK bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) application reaches fever pitch (and legendary investor Warren Buffett was found to be making a killing from bitcoin).
Now, as the market gets to grips with a shock “huge shift,” a bitcoin market analyst with crypto fund Galaxy Digital has predicted the $48.3 trillion U.S. wealth management industry could be about to gain access to the bitcoin and crypto market.
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“The U.S. wealth management industry will likely be the most addressable and direct market that would have the most net new accessibility from an approved bitcoin ETF,” Galaxy Digital research associate Charles Yuhe wrote in a note. “As of October 2023, assets managed by broker-dealers ($27 trillion), banks ($11 trillion) and RIAs ($9 trillion) collectively totaled $48.3 trillion.”
Yu predicted U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of a bitcoin spot ETF would add almost 75% to the bitcoin price within a year, potentially attracting over $14 billion of inflows. Such a move would put the bitcoin price back around its late 2021 peak of almost $70,000 per bitcoin.
“Anticipation that ETFs will be approved soon is rising, and our analysis suggests these products could see significant inflows, primarily driven by the wealth management channels that cannot currently access safe and efficient bitcoin exposure at scale,” Yu wrote.
The bitcoin price leaped higher this week, adding almost 15% over the last three days, as reports that BlackRock had been granted a stock market ticker for its bitcoin spot ETF went viral before the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation nixed rumors that the ticker was either new or significant.
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BlackRock’s June bitcoin spot ETF application kicked off a Wall Street race to be first to market with a bitcoin fund, sending expectations soaring that the SEC will buckle under the weight of applications.
Earlier this month, a former BlackRock managing director predicted it’s only a matter of months until the SEC approves a long-awaited bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), giving funds that manage $17.7 trillion worth of assets the green light.
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