The cryptoverse is abuzz today on the strength of a rumour of a rumour of a rumour that Bitcoin futures ETFs are set to be approved next week. It’s enough to make one US senator praise a higher being of some sort.

We’ll get to these hopes and prayers in a sec, but first, let’s see what’s happening with the price action…

At the time of writing, the overall crypto market cap is US$2.55 trillion, up 1.6 per cent from this time yesterday. Crypto’s pace setter (that’s Bitcoin) cracked the US$60K mark a short time ago. It’s up 4.5 per cent in the past 24 hours.

Coin360.com

As you can see from the Coin360 overview above, other top coins are largely sitting back and letting the OG crypto run the show. That said, the leading “altcoin”, Ethereum (ETH), is also travelling pretty well at present, up 6.51 per cent over the past week.

 

Bitcoin ETF ‘pretty much a done deal’

Bitcoin breaching US$60K for the first time in six months comes on the back of strengthening rumours that a crop of BTC futures exchange-traded funds are just days away now from getting the official seal of approval.

According to a Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed sources apparently close to the matter, the first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are set to be greenlit by the US Securities and Exchange Commission as early as next week, and possibly Monday.

Even though the CME futures ETFs are not the “physical”, spot-backed products the crypto market has been seeking, approval on this variety could still be seen as a watershed moment for the industry.

Due to a sense of official legitimisation, it could open the floodgates for even more institutional players to buy into Bitcoin, and subsequently gain exposure to other cryptos. BTC is, after all, a pretty potent gateway drug for the likes of Ethereum, Cardano, Solana and others.

It’s probably wise to not get too overconfident about the effect it could have on the price of Bitcoin and the rest of the market just yet, though. There are at least some within the crypto bubble who are keeping a reasonably circumspect view on these ETFs.

But amid the bullish sentiment, Bitcoin has rallied 12 per cent this week, and about 35 per cent so far this month. It’s only about an eight per cent rally again from its all time high of around US$64,800.

The SEC has been processing several Bitcoin futures ETF applications, with a decision on four due this month. And, reportedly, the financial regulator’s boss, Gary Gensler, has no objections to approving them. First cab off the rank for approval looks like ProShares, which is shaping to get the nod on Monday or Tuesday.

And it looks like the Nasdaq has given its approval for the Valkyrie ETF, which should come not long after the ProShares one next week, provided Gensler and pals don’t have a last-minute change of heart.

 

 

‘Thank God for Bitcoin’

Meanwhile, with reference to the US debt raise just announced by the Biden administration, the pro-crypto Republican senator and noted Bitcoin HODLer Cynthia Lummis has described Bitcoin in holy terms.

President Joe Biden this week signed legislation to raise the US government’s already seam-busting debt limit to a scarcely fathomable US$28.9 trillion.

And Senator Lummis’ response?

“Time and again, presidents of both parties have run up the debt irresponsibly, with no plan to address it. So thank God for Bitcoin, and other non-fiat currencies that transcend the irresponsibility of governments, including our own.”

Dem’s fightin’ words.

Although it’s not a black-and-white Democrats vs Republicans issue as such, there have certainly been some vocal senators in the traditionally more conservative party speaking out in favour of Bitcoin just recently.

Along with fellow Republicans Pat Toomey and Ted Cruz, Lummis is one of the most vocal senators advocating for fair regulations of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Lummis is also known for putting her money where her mouth is, so to speak, accumulating a good amount of BTC, with a recent purchase worth somewhere in the vicinity of US$100K, as reported by Cointelegraph.

 

Mooners and shakers

Before we get outta here for the week, let’s take a quick look at some top winners and losers up and down the market cap list today…

Doing well: obviously Bitcoin (BTC) now +6%, having just surged higher to US$60,712; Polygon (MATIC) +15.3%; Keep Network (KEEP) +80%; BarnBridge (BOND) +47%; and Death Road (DRACE) + 16%, which was recently mentioned in a Stockhead interview with Illuvium founder Kieran Warwick.

Illuvium (ILV), incidentally, hit a new all time high of US$714 about 10 hours ago. It’s currently changing hands for US$702.

Polygon is faring well today on the back of this solid news – a fresh listing with the large, regulated Korean crypto exchange Upbit…

Not having the best day, however, and that’s an understatement, is the crypto index project Indexed Finance (NDX) -32%, and its associated crypto-basket index tokens CC10, -100%, and DEFI5, -96%.

The protocol has suffered a crippling exploit with US$16 million worth of funds being drained from index pools by a hacker. The Indexed Finance team has yet to announce a plan to compensate users for lost assets.