Will Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Be A Boon Or Bane? Here's What Industry Experts Say

The crypto markets have been rocking with optimism for the past three months over the likelihood that regulators will approve spot Bitcoin ETFs.

While a lot of analysts are positive about the approval, some believe that a non-approval may shake up the industry.

What Happened: With the Spot Bitcoin BTC/USD ETF approval awaited by 13 applicants, the window for approval is set between Jan. 5 to Jan. 10, 2024.

Unchained.com's Joe Burnett stated on social media that he asked ChatGPT 4 what it may look like if 10% of all passive index fund flows went into a bitcoin ETF over the next 24 months.

The results it generated indicated that the BTC market cap would stand at $7.91 trillion at the end of month 24, Burnett said.

Nate Geraci, ETF store president and analyst, has a rather harsh view on on the situation.

“If spot bitcoin ETF is not approved in January, might be one of the bigger rug pulls in crypto history," he said.

If spot bitcoin ETF not approved in January, might be one of bigger rug pulls in crypto history…

Not my base case, but can't entirely rule out given history here (which is why I said *close* to 100%).

That said, sticking w/ my original pre-Grayscale court victory prediction. https://t.co/zhlLDgMlzw

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) December 18, 2023

He also commented, “Gonna be a bloodbath for crypto exchanges…” on Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas opined: “ETFs bout to unleash the Power of One (basis point).”  Balchunas adds that Bitcoin ETF will cost 0.01% to trade.

Gonna be a bloodbath for crypto exchanges…

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) December 18, 2023

Why Does It Matter: The Spot Bitcoin ETF approval is not the only driver for the crypto market rally, the upcoming Bitcoin halving event in April 2024 is also seen to drive the markets higher. 

Amid all the ETF approvals excitement, crypto index fund manager Bitwise today released an advertisement, "ETFs backed by crypto specialists." The exchange took to X, "A word to the wise, from a man of few words. #bitcoinisinteresting bitwiseinvestments.com."

Geraci adds that “Retail spot bitcoin ETF buyers & sellers will get benefit of underlying institutional trade execution & commissions…” Meanwhile, the users of crypto exchange will get “retail trade execution and commissions.”

In the past 24-hour trading, the total liquidations in the crypto market stood at $250.4 million, with the largest single liquidation valued at $10 million.

Price Action: In the past 90-day trading period, BTC and ETH witnessed 50.7% and 30.2% gains respectively, with past month increases at 12.8% and 10% respectively.

Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, some altcoins have experienced triple-digit gains. Avalanche leads the list with 322% gains, followed by Solana (+252%), Internet Computer (+225%), Cardano (+121%) and Chainlink (+104%).

Now Read: Dogecoin HODLERs Are Beating Shiba Inu With 57% Landing In Profits

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