Bitcoin ATM, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization that operates without any central control and relies on peer-to-peer software and cryptography, at the BitBase booth during Mobile World Congress 2023 on March 10, 2023 in Barcelona , Spain.
Joan Cross | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The price of Bitcoin rose on Monday as financial institutions continued to give their blessing to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin rose more than 5% to $28,064.10, its highest level since early May, according to Coin Metrics. Ether added 3.7% to $1,786.25.
Sentiment in crypto has been high since late last week when Black stone, the world’s largest asset manager, has filed for what will be the first US spot bitcoin ETF. The filing came a week after the Securities and Exchange Commission sued two of the largest crypto exchanges, Binance and Coinbase. Many have speculated about the timing of BlackRock’s move, especially with Coinbase as its crypto custody partner.
Bitcoin – 1 month
Then on Tuesday morning, a new crypto exchange backed by financial giants Charles Schwab, Fidelity Digital Assets and Citadel Securities announced it had been live for several weeks, trading bitcoin and ether.
Fidelity has been actively following along with crypto developments since 2014. In recent years, the firm spun off the Fidelity Digital Assets division, created a commission-free retail investing app called Fidelity Crypto, and began offering 401(k) investors access to cryptocurrencies (an option that must be provided by employers).
Many financial operators are eager to show enthusiasm for blockchain technology and the ways in which it can evolve the old financial infrastructure. However, most are quieter about their views on crypto investing.
With big names like BlackRock and Fidelity putting their crypto commitments on display, investors were optimistic on Tuesday that some of the reputational risk involved in doing any kind of crypto business — which for some investors is a mental barrier to buying bitcoin — could begin to fade.
Bitcoin has struggled to break out of a tight trading range this quarter, but has yet to drop significantly below $25,000. Tuesday’s big move pushed monthly gains into the green. It is now up 69% this year.