[Bitcoin Now] Rising Despite Spot ETF Approval Delay... Investor Sentiment Remains 'Greedy'

Image source=Reuters·Yonhap News

The price of Bitcoin, which had been falling due to the delay in approval of the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), is now on the rise.

According to CoinMarketCap, a global virtual asset market tracking site, as of 2:14 PM on the 19th, the price of Bitcoin was recorded at $36,564 (approximately 47.4 million KRW), up 0.59% from the previous day. Compared to a week ago, it is down 1.11%.

The easing of tightening concerns is interpreted as the factor driving the rise in Bitcoin prices. The market is gradually losing worries about further interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed). It is argued that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) announced on the 14th marked a turning point. The October CPI rose 3.2% year-on-year, which is a slowdown compared to the previous month's 3.7% increase. It was also lower than the market expectation of a 3.3% increase.

Excluding the highly volatile energy and food sectors, the October core CPI rose 4.0% compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest increase since September 2021. This also fell short of the market expectation of a 4.1% increase.

Until a month ago, Bitcoin was trading in the $29,000 range, but expectations for the launch of a Bitcoin spot ETF and easing tension over tightening led to a price increase. During this period, it rose more than 29%.

However, on the 15th (local time), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a delay in its decision on the Bitcoin spot ETF application by Hashdex, a virtual asset specialized asset management company, which caused the price to fall. On the 15th and 17th, the price dropped to the $35,000 range. Additionally, some analyses suggested that profit-taking due to the recent rapid price increase contributed to the price decline.

Investor sentiment in virtual assets recorded a level of greed. According to data from Alternative, a virtual asset data provider, the Fear & Greed Index, which expresses investor sentiment as an index, showed 66 points (greed), down 3 points from 69 points (greed) the previous day. Compared to 73 points (neutral) a week ago, it fell by 7 points. Alternative's Fear & Greed Index means that a score closer to 0 indicates extreme fear and pessimism about investment, while a score near 100 indicates optimism.