- Rising confidence in SEC approval for a Bitcoin ETF amid Bitcoin’s outperformance, per JPMorgan’s report.
- Institutional participation was reflected in the Bitcoin futures surge, reaching levels last seen before the FTX collapse.
- Growing institutional involvement in Bitcoin’s recent rally is evident through BTC inflow into larger wallets.
JPMorgan’s research report on Wednesday indicates a rising sense of confidence in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granting approval for a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The report highlights this growing optimism and points out that Bitcoin has significantly outperformed other cryptocurrencies, achieving a new yearly high.
Meanwhile, analysts, under the leadership of Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, have noted that this recent surge in activity appears to involve institutional involvement. Moreover, the analysts mentioned that their futures position indicator, which relies on CME Bitcoin futures and is typically favored by institutional investors, has surged in the past week. This increase has taken it to the highest point for this year and reached levels not witnessed since August 2022, just before the FTX collapse, as they referred to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
“Our futures position proxy based on CME bitcoin futures, which tends to be used mostly by institutional investors, has spiked over the past week rising not only to the highest level for this year but also to levels last seen in August 2022 before the FTX collapse.
analysts under Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou
According to JPMorgan, the equivalent futures position proxy for CME Ethereum (ETH) futures is still showing limited activity. The note also highlights that institutional involvement in the recent surge is evident when analyzing Bitcoin flows. Notably, there has been a significant influx of BTC into larger wallets, indicating a demand from institutional investors. This differs from previous quarters when the Bitcoin surge was primarily driven by smaller wallets, reflecting a stronger influence of retail investors, as mentioned in the report.
Last week, after briefly surging past $35,000 towards the end of the U.S. trading day before retracing its steps, Bitcoin continued its ascent towards $35,000, registering a 12% gain as Asia opened. Data indicated that Bitcoin was trading above $34,000, with the Bitcoin Trend Indicator signaling a “significant uptrend” as the long-anticipated Bitcoin ETF drew nearer to becoming a reality.
