Bitcoin in ‘anti-gravity’ phase as ETF approval nears finish line

After briefly pushing past $35,000 towards the end of the U.S. trading day, before dropping back down, Bitcoin (BTC) is continuing its march back towards $35,000, up 12% as Asia opens.

CoinDesk Indicies data shows that bitcoin is now trading above $34,000, with the Bitcoin Trend Indicator showing a “significant uptrend” as the long-awaited bitcoin ETF inches closer to reality.

In a note, Bernstein attributes the rally – which pushed bitcoin past a critical resistance point of $31,000 – to BlackRock listing its bitcoin ETF on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation database with the ticker $BITC.

“Bitcoin is in an ‘anti-gravity’ phase and could hit $75,000 in the coming months,” Woo Network’s Jack Tan said to CoinDesk in a note. “The sudden spike is just a preview of what will happen if ETFs actually get approved. A lot of this expected impact on the BTC price has already been priced in since the $25,000 level (back in February), as the GBTC discount had been narrowing to 16% as of last Friday’s close.”

Tan also noted that altcoins are trading more in line with tech stocks as they don’t have the flight to safety mechanism of bitcoin, and he expects them to underperform bitcoin and ether – the latter of which will “eventually catch up with bitcoin.”

“Bitcoin has been the recipient of most of these positive catalysts, and BTC dominance is now the highest it has been since early 2021, with the bellwether digital asset grabbing market share from ETH and stablecoins,” added David Lo, Bybit’s head of financial products in a Telegram message. “However, there may be some selling pressure on the horizon for GBTC as the discount gap narrows; there may be some who bought at the lows of 40% discount looking to sell into these prices.”

Quinn Thompson, Maple Finance’s Head of Capital Markets and Growth, believes that bitcoin is emerging as the modern equivalent of gold, serving as a refuge for investors during economic uncertainties, echoing BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s description of the recent crypto rally as a “flight to quality” amid global challenges.

“Fink’s ‘flight to quality’ comment mirrors Paul Tudor Jones’ recent remarks as well. 20 years ago, gold served this purpose, but now it's bitcoin. And he’s appropriately reading the tea leaves,” Thompson said during a recent CoinDesk TV interview. “He wouldn’t be publicly voicing these opinions if the SEC was going to deny his ETF application.”