Bitcoin climbs to 17-month high with ETF hopes

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Bitcoin saw its price climbing over $35,000 on Tuesday for the first time in more than 17 months with hopes that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would get regulatory approval in the US.

The price of the world's biggest cryptocurrency climbed to as high as $35,199, marking its highest level since May 8, 2022. It was trading at $34,348 for a massive 12% daily gain at 10.17 a.m. EDt.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market value, also rose to as much as $1,954. It was trading at $1,823 at the time for a daily increase of 8.6%.

Some altcoins saw their prices soar over 17% in the past 24 hours, according to data from the digital asset price-tracking website, CoinMarketCap.

The total value of the crypto market was up 9.3% to $1.27 trillion at the time, while Bitcoin's share of the crypto market, known as dominance, was at 52.9%, showed the data.

The recent rally is fueled by optimism of crypto enthusiasts who hope that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would begin to adopt a more positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies, starting by providing regulatory approvals to ETFs.

The SEC said last week it will not appeal a court ruling, after the US market watchdog initially rejected Grayscale Investments' application to create a spot ETF for Bitcoin.

Many crypto-related investment firms submitting their Bitcoin ETF requests have also been driving the recent optimism in the crypto market.

Investors outside the crypto market also hope that approval of Bitcoin ETFs would provide them gains from Bitcoin's price movements without directly owning it.