A Bitcoin rally paused around $30,000 as investors assessed a flurry of applications in the US to start exchange-traded funds investing in the token’s spot market, products that regulators there have so far resisted.
The largest digital asset bobbed around the round-number level on Thursday following a 21 per cent surge since BlackRock’s surprise June 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch such an ETF.
The climb has outstripped a 13 per cent jump in an index of the largest 100 virtual coins over the same period.
Bitcoin’s performance has also split from stocks, turning a short-term correlation between the token and the Nasdaq 100 gauge of technology shares negative for the first time since 2021.
Aside from BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – Invesco, WisdomTree and Bitwise have submitted similar plans in recent days.
The SEC has resisted allowing such funds, citing risks such as fraud and manipulation in the token’s spot market, but BlackRock’s stature and approach triggered speculation that the agency might be appeased.
BlackRock’s application and investor “expectations of more stimulus in China” to bolster the nation’s ailing economy are supporting Bitcoin, Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG Australia Pty, wrote in a note.
‘Dragging’ cryptocurrency higher
Bitcoin edged up less than 1 per cent to $30,130 as of 9.30am in Singapore on Thursday after adding more than 5 per cent in each of the previous two days.
Smaller tokens such as Ether, Cardano and Solana also posted gains.
Bitcoin “has been the standout outperformer in this move higher and feels to be dragging the rest of the crypto complex with it”, said Spencer Hallarn, a derivatives trader at cryptocurrency investment firm GSR.
Cryptocurrency sentiment also got a boost this week from the start of a digital-asset exchange, EDX Markets, backed by companies such as Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets and Charles Schwab.
Before the latest bout of optimism, an SEC clampdown had sapped sentiment and contributed to depressed liquidity in cryptocurrency markets.
The regulator is suing exchange operators Binance and Coinbase, and – in the process – has designated a series of digital tokens as unregistered securities.
Other hurdles include the prospect of tighter monetary policy and indications that Bitcoin’s rally is getting stretched. A momentum gauge known as the 14-day relative strength index flashed an overbought signal.
Bitcoin has rebounded 82 per cent this year after a rout in 2022 that erased $1.5 trillion from digital assets. The token remains $39,000 below its 2021 peak.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Honeymoonish
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Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
Everton%20Fixtures
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