Bitcoin faced a few difficult days amid the actions of US regulator, SEC, on Binance and Coinbase and their allegedly irregular practices. This caused the cryptoking to suffer, which also contributed to the latest Fed´s decision, as although it did not raise rates, it did anticipate two more hikes before the end of the year.
All this led Bitcoin to lose $26,000 and put $25,000 at stake, although it now seems to be recovering and is once again trading above $26,000 ($26,426), regaining some of the calm it had lost with the latest turbulence.
Naeem Aslam, director of analysis at Zaye Capital Markets, pointed out that Bitcoin´s recent recovery is due to BlackRock’s decision to apply for approval of a Bitcoin ETF from the SEC, which “shows that the institute not only has faith in the digital gold, but still sees in it a great opportunity, as customers continue to demand Bitcoin or want to take advantage of the current price, which is nothing more than a bargain,” Aslam explained.
BlackRock has used Coinbase as a depositary for its ETF, the same Coinbase that was sued by the SEC, commented Craig Erlam, senior analyst at Oanda.
BlackRock’s application may have a better chance than previous attempts by other fund managers thanks to the promise of a “shared surveillance agreement” between the exchanges. Page 36 of the application states that, to prevent market manipulation, Nasdaq (where the proposed ETF will be listed) will enter into a shared surveillance agreement with an operator of a Bitcoin spot trading platform.
Shared surveillance agreements allow for the sharing of information on market trading activity, clearing activity and customer identification, which reduces the potential for market manipulation.
Bitcoin touched three-month lows last Thursday before starting to recover. The SEC’s actions and a Fed that remains hawkish despite giving the market a breather at its June meeting have weighed on the cryptocurrency.
