In a significant turn of events, Cantor Fitzgerald, a prominent financial services firm celebrated for its prime brokerage and investment banking expertise, has ignited fresh hope for the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to insightful reports from Bloomberg News, Cantor Fitzgerald is increasingly confident about the prospects of asset managers securing the elusive green light for a Bitcoin spot ETF.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), historically cautious about the emergence of a Bitcoin spot ETF due to apprehensions concerning offshore spot platforms' potential manipulation, now finds itself at a crossroads. Cantor Fitzgerald's analysts, Josh Siegler and Will Carlson, contend that the burgeoning market surveillance protocols proposed by the new applicants hold the key to alleviating these concerns and swaying the SEC toward an affirmative decision. They highlight the paramount significance of establishing a "comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size" as a promising path to appease regulators.
The implications of such approval, if it were to materialize, are nothing short of profound. Cantor Fitzgerald underscores that the green light for a spot ETF would not only have immediate effects on Bitcoin's price but would also mark a pivotal moment in the cryptocurrency's long-term adoption and legitimization.
Anticipation over the approval of a spot ETF has triggered a remarkable surge in Bitcoin's price in recent weeks, manifesting in a rally that saw the cryptocurrency race towards the $35,000 mark earlier this month. Market speculation, driven by the potential approval of a spot ETF, has significantly propelled this surge.
In tandem with these developments, Matrixport, a prominent crypto financial services platform, has offered a tantalizing prediction. If a spot ETF materializes, it could trigger a major Bitcoin rally, potentially attracting significant interest from investors in precious metals ETFs, which boast a combined market cap of approximately $120 billion. Matrixport's calculation suggests that if even 10-20% of these investors diversify into a Bitcoin ETF as a hedge against monetary debasement and inflation, the cryptocurrency market could witness an inflow ranging from $12 to $24 billion.
This inflow, analogous to the market cap increase of Tether by $24 billion, acting as a proxy for potential ETF inflows, could potentially see Bitcoin's price ascend to a conservative estimate of $42,000.
The surge in Bitcoin's market dominance, which has reached its highest level in over two and a half years, reinforces the ongoing bullish sentiment. Bitcoin's dominance, starting the year at approximately 38%, now hovers at 54%, reflecting an impressive 81% surge since the outset of 2023.