According to Cointelegraph: Bitcoin has reached new 21-month highs, reaching $45,922 as renewed enthusiasm centred on a potential U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) fuels the cryptocurrency's price increase.
The surge follows rumors that the ETF's approval could come before the official approval window, which begins on Jan. 4. Analysts and traders have generally agreed that anticipation surrounding the ETF approval is the primary driver behind Bitcoin's current upward momentum.
Prompted by order book shifts, traders noted some degree of selling, but it remained relatively limited in volume. Analyst assumptions for BTC/USD's potential high with the ETF's approval centre around the $48,000 mark.
Despite Bitcoin's appreciable gains - up to 8% already in 2024 - there have been no significant losses from those betting in the opposite direction, with just $38 million in BTC shorts liquidated at the time of writing.
The encouraging news didn't come without a warning, with one trader noting that the perp market was generally underexposed to this current move, which is being driven by spot trading. This underpreparedness could potentially result in heightened volatility, especially around the $45K mark.
As anticipation builds for the potential Bitcoin ETF approval, the crypto industry is poised to observe the continued impact on Bitcoin's price activity.
