On Thursday, Bitcoin soared to new heights for 2023, driven by growing optimism surrounding the potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF. The premier cryptocurrency’s price surged by more than 3.5%, breaching the $37,900 mark for the first time since May 2022.
Ethereum also experienced a significant uptick, surpassing the $2,000 threshold, while various altcoins saw gains of up to 10%.
The surge in Bitcoin prices triggered a cascade of short liquidations overnight, propelling cryptocurrency prices even higher. Clara Medalie, Head of Research at crypto data provider Kaiko, attributed this surge to the optimism surrounding the potential ETF approval.
“Crypto markets have been eagerly seeking a catalyst amidst a year of challenging news, and the ETF news provides a welcome respite,” Medalie noted. “The extent of the rally is still uncertain, but things are looking positive.”
Other cryptocurrency assets and equities followed Bitcoin’s price surge on Thursday.
Solana, one of this year’s top-performing cryptocurrencies, saw an impressive 11% increase.
Tokens associated with Cardano and Polygon experienced gains of 4% and 3%, respectively.
Cryptocurrency services provider Coinbase’s shares rose by 3.7% before the market opened, and Bitcoin proxy Microstrategy saw a 4.7% increase.
Companies like Block and Robinhood, known for their crypto trading services, each saw gains of over 1%.
Notably, stocks linked to Bitcoin mining experienced even more significant increases. Marathon Digital and Riot, two prominent mining stocks, saw respective increases of 10% and 6%.
CleanSpark and Cipher Mining also posted gains of 7% in premarket trading.
