The cryptocurrency market is on edge as investors await the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on whether to approve the country’s first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The decision expected as early as next week could have a significant impact on the price and adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
While the market waits, large holders known as whales are making moves for major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE).
According to data from Whale Alert, a crypto data tracker, whales have made several massive transfers of BTC, ETH and DOGE in the last 24 hours.
Whale Alert reports three massive transactions of 14,648 ETH, 20,997 ETH and 10,051 ETH in recent hours. Whale Alert also observed eight large BTC transactions ranging from 1,101 to 1,108 BTC migrated to Robinhood in the last 24 hours.
According to Ali, in the past 24 hours, Bitcoin experienced its largest spike in transactions over $100,000 in nearly two years.
He adds that the 16,900 large transactions might serve as a proxy for BTC whale activity, offering insights into how these major players might be positioned in the crypto market.
Two massive transactions involving 883,016,276 DOGE and 307,491,734 DOGE moved in between wallets were also recorded. These transactions imply that whales are either accumulating or distributing their assets based on their outlook and strategy.
Bitcoin exchange-traded fund approval speculations heighten
On social media, speculation has reached a boiling point that the SEC might authorize a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) as soon as Friday, which is today.
Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm tweeted that he was “just filling out some forms,” which sparked speculation that clearance could come much sooner than the expected Jan. 8-10 date.
However, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart dismissed much of the talk concerning a much earlier approval as noise, saying he still expects approval between Jan. 8 and 10.
“Lot of noise about tomorrow. Sticking to this. I’m not expecting official bitcoin ETF approval orders tomorrow. Still expecting them January 8–10,” Seyffart stated in a tweet.
BlackRock, Valkyrie, ARK Invest/21 Shares, Bitwise and Fidelity are among the 14 issuers bidding for a spot Bitcoin ETF.