Market News

BY  David Pan, Bloomberg News

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(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin climbed back above $35,000, setting another 17-month high, on growing expectations that the approval of exchange-traded funds holding the cryptocurrency will bolster overall demand. 

The largest digital currency jumped at the start of trading in Asia, reaching $35,578 before paring the gain. That’s the highest since May 2022. The SOL token of the Solana blockchain also recent extend gains, bringing its increase for the week to around 30%. 

“It’s an aftershock from the fast move past $35,000 last week,” said Michael Safai, a partner of proprietary trading firm Dexterity Capital. “Resistance has firmed at that level, but there’s enough sustained momentum around the ETF news to make some runs towards $37,000.”   

Bitcoin rallied 28% in October, the biggest monthly increase since January, on surging expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission may soon approve exchange-traded funds that invest directly in the cryptocurrency after more than a decade of deliberation. It surged more than 11% last Monday as traders speculated that a possible listing of a ticker for a proposed BlackRock fund suggested approval was imminent.

“35k is a pivotal line and has been the resistance last 10 trading sessions,” said Teong Hng, chief executive of crypto investment firm Satori Research. “Hence, this typically provides a magnet for the market to gun for the stops.”  

Solana has surged this year as the project tries to move past its association with discredited former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried. It is among the blockchains vying with Ethereum, crypto’s key commercial highway, for a bigger share of digital-asset activity.

Marinade Finance, a staking protocol, was launched earlier this year on Solana. Marinade offers a yield of around 8%.