Bitcoin fell and Ether rose during Monday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, while most of the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization strengthened. Investor sentiment remained strong after the wave of institutional interest in crypto from a raft of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications in the final weeks of June.
Bitcoin slips, Ether inches up, top 10 cryptos in the green
Bitcoin inched down 0.31% from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong to US$30,632. Ether gained 0.4% in the same period to trade at US$1,963, floating above US$1,900 since Sunday.
Crypto investors remained optimistic after numerous spot Bitcoin ETF applications in June. Among the latest institutional players to join the race, asset management giant Fidelity filed a spot Bitcoin ETF application last week.
The U.S. regulator that approves ETFs, the Securities and Exchange Commission, on Friday indicated it was unimpressed by the Bitcoin ETF applications by financial heavyweights such as Blackrock and Fidelity Investments, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
“It is obvious that a race is currently underway among institutional firms to get a Bitcoin ETF approved. Whether such an ETF will be approved soon and which one will be the first is known only to Mr Gensler, but it is safe to say that news of an approved ETF will have a positive impact on the Bitcoin price in both the short and long term,” Jonas Betz, crypto market analyst and founder of consultancy firm Betz Crypto, told Forkast.
“An ETF will significantly lower the barriers to exposure to Bitcoin by providing an easily accessible investment vehicle and thus boosting demand for Bitcoin.”
Polkadot’s Dot token was the day’s biggest gainer in the top 10, rising 4.48% to US$5.50, followed by Ether that increased 2.43% in the past 24 hours. The XRP token was the only one in the red, inching down 0.02% to US$0.4824.
