The prospect of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) being approved in the United States has increased demand for the major cryptocurrency, causing transaction fees to surge.
According to statistics from CryptoFees, fees paid on the Bitcoin blockchain reached $11.6 million on November 16. As of press time, YCharts data shows that the average transaction fee is $18.69, an increase of 113% from the previous day and an increase of 746% from the same period last year.
According to market analysis from Cointelegraph, Bitcoin remains close to 18-month highs and outside of bear market trading range. As of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $36,407, up 0.58% in the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin prices have been rising since Wall Street investment management firm BlackRock filed for a spot BTC ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June. Following BlackRock’s application, several other major U.S. asset managers submitted similar proposals, including Fidelity, ARK Invest, WisdomTree and others.
#bitcoin ETH daily fee officially flipped for first time in three years. pic.twitter.com/2G3t6j64TP
—₿Isaiah⚡️ (@BitcoinIsaiah) November 17, 2023
While the SEC appears to be in contact with these companies about proposal adjustments, a decision has not yet been made to push the deadline to January 2024. On November 16, WisdomTree amended its Form S-1 with regulators, followed by similar amendments from regulators ARK and 21Shares, Valkyrie, Bitwise and VanEck.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said the revised version may be a response to concerns raised by the SEC. “What this means is that ARK received the SEC’s comments, addressed all of them, and now puts the ball back in the SEC’s court,” Balchunas said. “(In my opinion) a good sign, solid progress.”
A spot Bitcoin ETF is an investment fund that reflects the price of Bitcoin. The “spot” aspect refers to the fund’s direct purchase of Bitcoin as the underlying asset. It enables investors to participate in the Bitcoin market through their regular brokerage accounts. For example, this is a way to gain exposure to BTC price fluctuations without having to buy on a cryptocurrency exchange.
As a result, spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to attract funds from institutional investors, which could cause the price of Bitcoin to reach new highs in the coming months. According to analysts at Bloomberg, there was a 90% chance that the same proposals would be approved in January.
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