Amid increasing concerns about a possible government shutdown in the US, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has started to rise. The rise is particularly notable as it coincides with the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to postpone the spot Bitcoin ETF applications by Blackrock, Bitwise, ARK Invest, and Invesco.
Sharks and Whales in Bitcoin Reach the Highest Level of the Year
Data from on-chain data platform Santiment reveals that Bitcoin wallet addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC currently hold the highest amount of BTC since the beginning of the year. This indicates a peak in confidence in the cryptocurrency market.
Market observers suggest that this investor confidence is driven by the expectation that the SEC will approve at least one spot Bitcoin ETF by 2024. In its notification, Santiment added the following note:
Wallet addresses holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC, known as Bitcoin sharks and whales, have reached the threshold of holding the highest amount of BTC with 13.03 million BTC in 2023.
Due to the potential government shutdown, the SEC has expedited its review processes. As a result, the decisions for the spot Bitcoin ETF applications by Blackrock, Bitwise, ARK Invest, and Invesco, expected to be announced in October, have already been made. Three applications are still awaiting a decision after the SEC’s postponement of Blackrock, Bitwise, ARK Invest, and Invesco’s spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Ultimately, the delay decisions for the applications have not had a negative impact on the largest cryptocurrency as it is widely expected that the US federal regulator will not give the green light to a spot Bitcoin ETF this year. At the time of writing this article, the price of Bitcoin is trading around $27,000.
Will Bitcoin’s Price Rise?
Although the US Congress has little time left to prevent a government shutdown, lawmakers have yet to come up with a plan to prevent millions of federal government employees from going on leave. Therefore, it is believed that Bitcoin has the right opportunity to find a trigger point beyond the $30,000 mark with the chaos that will arise.
This expectation is based on the rise in the price of the largest cryptocurrency following the banking crisis that broke out in the US in the first quarter of the year. Nevertheless, it is also possible that US lawmakers will prepare a spending plan in the coming days to prevent a potential government shutdown.
