Bitcoin (BTC) extended its win streak on Friday as the top crypto surged to a high of $47,725 near midday, where it ran into a solid level of resistance that halted the move higher on Jan. 11, the day that multiple spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETF) launched.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $47,530, an increase of 5.65% on the 24-hour chart, with bulls now setting their sights on surpassing the two-year high of $49,150, which was hit in a blow-off top move amid the ETF launch.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
According to analysts at Fineqia International, an analysis of global exchange-traded products (ETPs) with digital assets as underlying collateral “revealed a 5% growth in total crypto Assets Under Management (AUM) in January, to $52.0 billion from $49.5 billion.”
This occurred at the same time as “the market value of crypto assets decreased 2.7%, to about $1.73 trillion from $1.77 trillion,” they said. “The difference between the growth in AUM of crypto ETPs and the market value of crypto assets is primarily attributed to the approval of BTC Spot ETFs traded in the US, which commenced trading on Jan. 11, leading to increased capital inflow into crypto ETPs.”
“The nine newly issued products garnered approximately $6.9 billion in inflows in Jan., partially mitigated by the net outflow from Grayscale ETF,” the analysts said. “Despite this, the total flow resulted in a net inflow exceeding $1 billion for Jan.”
“The light has turned green and the (investor) traffic has started moving,” said Fineqia CEO Bundeep Singh Rangar. “More drivers are joining the ETF roadway as their confidence grows in digital assets."
“In Jan., the price of BTC rose 2.5% to $43,300 from $42,300 at the end of last year,” the analysts said. “The AUM of ETPs with BTC as the underlying asset saw a 6.8% increase in Jan, to $38.0 billion from $35.6 billion recorded at the end of Dec. 2023. These figures highlight the substantial net inflow observed in Jan., particularly following the BTC Spot ETFs approval.”
They also highlighted the growth of Ethereum (ETH), the second-ranked crypto by market cap. “Ethereum rose 3.9% to $2,365 in Jan. from $2,277 recorded at the end of Dec. 2023. In the same period, ETH-denominated ETPs AUM increased 1.9% to $9.6 billion from $9.4 billion on Dec. 31, 2023,” they said.
The recent growth for ETH has largely been attributed to the potential launch of spot Ether ETFs, with the final deadline for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make a ruling on several applications coming in March.
Ether also climbed higher in trading on Friday and briefly touched $2,525 before pulling back to support at $2,490, where it trades at the time of writing and represents an increase of 2.5% on the 24-hour chart.
ETH/USD Chart by TradingView
According to the latest Bitcoin price prediction report from Finder, “BTC is expected to peak at $88,000 in 2024.”
“The majority (58%) of cryptocurrency and fintech specialists expect the upcoming halving event to trigger a bull run,” the report said. “Nearly one in five panelists (18%) think a bull run will happen before the halving. An additional 10% of panelists say the market won’t hit a bull run until later in the year. However, 10% say that there won’t be a bull run in 2024 at all, and 5% are unsure if there will be one.”
According to Finder’s Ethereum price prediction report, “Ether is predicted to end 2024 just shy of its all-time high (ATH) set in November 2021,” with industry specialists predicting ETH to hit a price of $4,887.
“It could even surpass this level, with the panel predicting on average ETH will hit a peak of $5,300 at some point throughout the year,” the report said.
“Cryptocurrencies have been gaining momentum in 2023, but we should expect Bitcoin to remain the center of attention for crypto traders throughout 2024,” said Alexander Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro.” Only toward the end of the year should we expect to see an increased focus on altcoins, with Ethereum topping the list.”
“Overall, the majority (71%) of panelists say now is the time to buy ETH, 26% to hold, and only 3% to sell,” the report concluded.
