Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies got a boost after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave its blessing to the discovery of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The federal regulator on Wednesday approved a long list of spot Bitcoin ETF applications — including the world's largest asset manager BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity and others.
The industry took the SEC's approval as a major sign of encouragement, with all top 10 coins by market cap trading in the green in early trading on Thursday.
The OG cryptocurrency Bitcoin rose nearly 1% to $46,425 over the past 24 hours, but BTC prices are still lagging the new 19-month highs they reached earlier this week. At the time of writing, Bitcoin's market cap stood at $904 billion while trading volumes jumped 33% to $51 billion over the past 24 hours.
Ethereum — the third-largest cryptocurrency — got a boost from rocket fuel, rising 10% in the past 24 hours to $2,617. The market value of Ether rose to $314.5 billion while trading volume reached $30.2 billion, an increase of 80% over the past 24 hours.
Smaller cryptocurrencies, or altcoins, followed a similar upward trend, with both BNB and Solana rising more than 2%. While Tether and USDC prices were flat, XRP price rose 6%, Cardano (ADA) price rose more than 12%, and Avalanche (AVAX) price jumped almost 14%.
Popular memecoins – Dogecoin and Shiba Inu – also rose by 6% and 5.5%, respectively. This optimism was reflected in the global market value of cryptocurrencies, which rose by 3.5% to $1.77 trillion. The Fear and Greed Index level reached 74, indicating that investors were optimistic about cryptocurrencies.
Top 3 digital currencies for today
Baby prices rise by 11%
The price of Pepe Coin rose nearly 16% in the past 24 hours to $0.000001389, taking the market cap to $584.6 million. Trading volume over the past 24 hours has increased by more than 119% to $242.3 million.
Arbitrum (ARB) price jumps nearly 21%
The price of Arbitrum (ARB) has risen more than 20% in the past 24 hours to $2.34, with the market cap rising to $2.9 billion. Trading volumes in the past 24 hours jumped by a staggering 81% to reach $2.6 billion. The value of the token has risen more than 104% in the last 30 days, indicating increased interest in the altcoin.
Lido DAO (LDO) price drops by 2.5%
The price of Lido DAO (LDO) fell more than 2.5% in the last 24 hours to $3.72, bringing its market capitalization to $3.2 billion. However, trading volumes over the past 24 hours rose by more than 10% to $387.4 million. The altcoin is up over 16% in the past seven days and is up 63% in the past 30 days.
Read also: Elon Musk says he's open to the idea of using Bitcoin
