The Bitcoin price earlier today jumped 10% and touched $30,000 after false rumors about BlackRock’s exchange-traded fund (ETF) being approved. However, the gains were quickly erased after Blackrock confirmed that its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF had not yet been granted the green light by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
BlackRock Pours Cold Water On Spot ETF Hype
On Monday, industry media outlet Cointelegraph said in a post on X that the SEC had approved BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. Cointelegraph later edited its post by adding the word “reportedly” to its claim. The tweet garnered over 2.1m views and triggered a spike in volatility in the crypto market.
The news publication did not provide a source, but analysts and reporters then revealed on X that they were trying to confirm the rumor. Cointelegraph has since deleted its post and issued an apology.
Fox News reporter Eleanor Terret confirmed with BlackRock that the report was fake, as the asset manager’s application remains under SEC review.
Millions of dollars in positions got liquidated on Bitcoin’s move to $30,000. As per Coinglass, over $80 million in short positions were liquidated in the span of hours after the fake report emerged. Overall, $136 million in positions have been liquidated over the past 24 hours.
The Monday false report came days after the SEC declined to appeal an August court ruling that ordered it to re-evaluate a proposal from Grayscale Investments to convert its flagship GBTC fund into a spot bitcoin ETF.
BTC has since settled around $28,361.11 as of press time, a 5% jump over the past 24 hours. Despite the fact that the bulls have suffered a considerable hurdle, the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States is still highly likely in the near future. Bloomberg analysts see a whopping 90% chance of such an investment vehicle being approved by Jan. 10, 2024.
