The price of bitcoin surged to $36,000 during Asian trading hours on Thursday, marking a significant increase of about 30% over the past month and 93% year-over-year. Ether also followed suit with a 20% increase over the past month, according to data from CoinDesk Indices.
Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management, shed light on these trends in a recent interview. He suggested that the current price of bitcoin does not reflect the potential impact of the anticipated approval of a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). The majority of financial advisors, who manage a substantial 80% of U.S. assets, do not foresee its approval until 2025 or later. This suggests a potential new audience for the bitcoin ETF.
Hougan drew parallels to the impact of the approval of a spot gold ETF in 2004, which led to years of steady increases in the price of gold, suggesting a similar trajectory for bitcoin. He emphasized that ETFs could significantly expand the cryptocurrency investor base, particularly among financial advisors.
Currently, only 20% of self-directed retail investors have invested in crypto. Financial advisors and institutions, which control the remaining 80% of American assets, need an ETF to access the crypto markets.
Hougan also noted how BlackRock’s (NYSE:BLK) bitcoin ETF filing in June had a positive impact on market sentiment by erasing the negative aftermath of the FTX collapse. He referred to this phenomenon as the “ghosts of Sam Bankman-Fried.
