Cryptocurrency prices rallied to end the week on Friday, a day after the world’s largest asset manager launched the race to launch the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US.
Bitcoin ended the day up 3.75% at $26,355.04, according to CoinMetrics, while ether advanced 3% to $1,718.32.
Even altcoins surged, with tokens tied to Solarium and Cardano earning 4.5% and 2%, respectively. Binance Coin was 2.75% higher, litecoin gained 3% and the Uniswap token advanced 4%.
Bitcoin still closed the week slightly negative, for the second week in a row, at 0.21%. Ether also posted a second consecutive weekly drop. It fell 10.84%. Coin Metrics measures a week in crypto, which is traded 24 hours a day, from the stock market close at 4:00 p.m. ET from one Friday to the next.
Bitcoin (BTC) this week
Investors were weighing the latest development in the crypto industry’s battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for guidance and regulatory recognition. After the bell on Thursday, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, filed for a spot bitcoin ETF, with Coinbase as its crypto custodian.
“One of the big purposes of Bitcoin as an asset class is really diversification. It just has a different risk profile than traditional financial markets,” said Gustavo Schwenkler, an associate professor at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. . “If this were to pass, then I would anticipate many more institutional investors adding bitcoin to their investment portfolios…it would institutionalize the market in a way that is not possible at this time.”
If allowed to move forward, iShares Bitcoin Trust would become the first ETF approved in the US to track the price of bitcoin, as compared to futures contracts tied to the cryptocurrency. About 10 years have passed since the first submission of a potential spot bitcoin ETF. Since then, all applications that have gone through the SEC have been rejected.
The filing comes about a week after the SEC sued its crypto escrow partner, Coinbase, for violating securities laws, leaving many questioning the timing of BlackRock’s request.
“That apparent commitment to Coinbase is almost as important in the short term as their commitment to bitcoin is in the long term,” said Mark Connors, head of research at 3iQ. “It’s very important.”
—CNBC’s Gina Francolla contributed to this reporting.
