Bitcoin Surpasses $50,000 for the First Time in Over 2 Years... Impact of Spot ETF

Approval of Spot ETF and Halving Effect in April

The leading virtual asset, Bitcoin, has surpassed $50,000 for the first time in over two years. This is attributed to the approval of the Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) last month and the growing expectations of a Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate cut within the year, which have driven buying momentum.

According to the US virtual asset exchange Coinbase on the 12th (local time), at 12:26 PM Eastern Time, the price of one Bitcoin was trading at $50,024 (approximately 66.63 million KRW), up 3.65% from 24 hours earlier. This marks the first time Bitcoin has exceeded $50,000 since December 2021, over two years and two months ago.

At the same time, Ethereum, the second-largest virtual asset by market capitalization, also rose 1.83% to $2,576 (approximately 3.43 million KRW).

Following the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF listing on the 10th of last month, capital inflows have increased, spreading investment optimism. Although $415 million (approximately 552.8 billion KRW) was withdrawn from the 'Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)' managed by the US virtual asset management firm Grayscale Investments last week, the Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $1.2 billion (approximately 1.5984 trillion KRW). This is the largest weekly inflow since its launch last month. Expectations that the Bitcoin halving, which will reduce the supply by half, will occur in April are also acting as a driving force behind Bitcoin's rise.

Ben Ledler, global market strategist at the virtual asset exchange eToro, analyzed, "The fourth Bitcoin halving, expectations of Fed interest rate cuts, and the potential approval of an Ethereum spot ETF?all of these matter in an asset market that is the smallest, youngest, and dominated by individual investors."