Crypto roundup: Bitcoin pokes head back above $43K; hope for ETF circulates

It’s a green day so far as September sits in the departure lounge, with Bitcoin and many altcoins looking in better shape. SEC chair Gary Gensler, meanwhile, has reiterated his preference for a BTC futures-backed ETF.

Bitcoin earlier today reclaimed US$43K, and has been sitting above it for much of the past 12 hours. For some, it’s is an important level to close out September, including the creator of the Bitcoin Stock to Flow chart, PlanB.

The analyst had nominated the level as his “worst case” for the month, historically a shaky one for crypto. His worst-case Bitcoin level for October is US$63K, November’s is US$98K and December’s is US$135. He’s a bullish kinda guy on Bitcoin. Like this bloke…

What did Michael Saylor do before Bitcoin to fill his time? Genuinely curious

— Data Guy (@data_guy_1) September 30, 2021

At press time, the entire market cap is sitting at US$1.98 trillion, slowly heading back to the two-trillion mark it lost a couple of days ago.

Bitcoin is currently changing hands for US$43,120. It’s up 4.2% since this time yesterday, but has been chopping around quite a bit as it negatively correlates to the US dollar, which, just at the moment, is trending up.

For now today; equity markets dropping, $DXY moving upwards and $BTC also correcting since intra-day high.

Looking at $42K as a crucial level.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) September 30, 2021

Ethereum is also undulating around its psychological support zone of US$3K. It’s currently changing hands for US$2,996, up 6.29% since this time yesterday.

It’s never too hard to find positive vibes for the no.2 crypto, even at the worst of times, but here’s a breakdown of where respected trader Johnny Woo sees things going…

$ETH #Ethereum roadmap until end of Jan 2022.
A bullish trend from here to ~$6100 then correction to ~$4100-$4500 [almost 30%] and then final run until final target range [~$13k-$20k (max)].
More info is on the chart.
This chart took me three hours, please like and RT.
Thanks. pic.twitter.com/CoPODNDagz

— Johnny Woo | Never DM you for Money (@j0hnnyw00) September 30, 2021

Yes, yes… but ‘wen ETF’?

For a change of pace, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) boss, Gary Gensler, gave the market a little boost today, renewing his support for futures-backed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Speaking at the Financial Times’ Future of Asset Management North America conference, the regulator emphasised that he has a focus on Bitcoin ETFs that invest in futures contracts and trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Ones that meet the criteria of the 1940 Investment Company Act that he so stringently sticks to.

There are quite a few Bitcoin futures ETF applications sitting in the SEC’s in-tray. And Gensler’s comments today leave the door ajar for a possible approval before the end of the year. Some seem to think at least one or two might be approved pretty soon.

Bitcoin ETF likelihood increasing https://t.co/iCWPpv0LGh

— Stephen Cole (@sthenc) September 30, 2021

It’s not MEGA bullish news, but the market will take it, even though most crypto investors would prefer to see a spot-backed Bitcoin ETF, rather than the futures “IOU” kind.

Gensler was also keen to reiterate that his main priority, however, is the protection of investors:

“This crypto space is now certainly of a size that, without those investor protections of banking, insurance, securities laws and market oversight, I do think somebody is going to get hurt. A lot of people are likely to get hurt,” he said.

A CME futures backed #bitcoin ETF is how Wall Street tries to control the price of BTC, this is how the SEC “protects” investors

— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) September 30, 2021

Canadian ‘multi-currency’ crypto ETF gets the nod

If Gensler’s ETF commentary isn’t sending you to the moon just yet, you might prefer the crypto ETF news out of Canada today.

A “multi-currency” (well, just Bitcoin and Ethereum at this point) market-cap-weighted crypto ETF has been officially approved in the North American country and is ready to trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Evolve Cryptocurrencies ETF is not the first crypto ETF approval in Canada, but its duality certainly makes it unique, giving its investors exposure to the two top cryptos in one fell swoop.

The fund currently has about 68 per cent of its holdings in BTC and 32 per cent in ETH.

Mooners and shakers

A quick scan of some high performers at press time…

Making the 1st XI by market cap (just), we have Terra (LUNA), having a double-digit green day (+13.22%). Other notables in the top 100 having a similarly good time of it include: VeChain (VET) +10.86%; Hashgraph (HBAR) +10.01%; Dash (DASH) +10.14%; OMG Network (OMG) +17.10%; and Qtum (QTUM) +18.11%.

Some of the best on show outside the top 100 include the often overlooked Ethereum scaling solution Raiden Network (RDN), also sometimes referred to as ETH’s “Lightning Network”. It’s up 30.43% in the past 24 hours. DeFi token Rari Protocol (RGT) is up 23.41%, meanwhile, and another Ethereum scaler, Metis Token (METIS) is 17.4% to the good.