Bitcoin
dropped Friday following a report that the Securities and Exchange Commission said filings for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund from
BlackRock
and others—which have recently buoyed crypto prices—were inadequate.
The price of
Bitcoin
has dropped 1.5% over the past 24 hours to $30,250. The largest crypto fell from $31,000 to as low as $29,600 after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing anonymous sources, that the SEC has said a recent wave of applications to launch ETFs that hold spot Bitcoin, or the token itself, were inadequate.
While funds that hold Bitcoin futures, which trade on regulated U.S. exchanges, have been approved before, the industry has long awaited a spot Bitcoin ETF. News that
BlackRock
(ticker; BLK), Fidelity Investments, and other stalwarts of traditional finance had made applications—which included a novel market-surveillance mechanism to soothe regulators—had pushed Bitcoin prices up by double-digits in recent weeks.
Not only would a BlackRock or Fidelity spot Bitcoin ETF likely usher in a new wave of retail participation in crypto, but it also would herald a significant push into the digital asset space by some of the biggest players in finance. The Journal report that the SEC considers their applications “sufficiently clear and comprehensive” is likely to undo some of the recent optimism in crypto.
Bitcoin had previously traded higher on Friday, rising close to its recent peak near $31,500—the highest level since June 2022—alongside the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
after the release of key inflation data.
The core personal-consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, showed inflation continues to trend downward, alleviating some fears that the central bank will continue aggressively raising interest rates.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—was flat at $1,850. Smaller cryptos, or altcoins, pared big gains from earlier, with
Cardano
climbing 2% and
Polygon
up 1%. Memecoins such as
Dogecoin
and
Shiba Inu
were both just above flat.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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