The prices of several major cryptocurrencies jumped on Tuesday amid increased speculation over the imminent approval of the first spot Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As of the regular markets' close on Tuesday, Bitcoin was up more than 9%, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) had gained nearly 7%, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) had risen 5.5%.

Late Monday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out on social media platform X that BlackRock's (NYSE: BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust had been listed on the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website (the organization that clears all trades) with the planned ticker symbol IBTC. The news subsequently garnered so much attention that the DTCC website briefly crashed due to overwhelming traffic.

Indeed, Tuesday's optimism followed a significant rally in cryptocurrency prices last week, which was spurred by the SEC's reported decision not to appeal a federal court's August reversal of its order preventing crypto asset manager Grayscale from converting its widely popular Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC) into an ETF.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com