Bitcoin Is Falling. Where the Market Stands on ETF Approval.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were falling Thursday and volatile trading looks set to continue ahead of the potential approval of exchange-traded funds tied to spot trading of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has declined 5.1% to $43,007 over the last 24 hours. The largest cryptocurrency broke through $45,000 on Tuesday but subsequently fell as low as $41,361 on Wednesday.

Most…


Bitcoin

and other cryptocurrencies were falling Thursday and volatile trading looks set to continue ahead of the potential approval of exchange-traded funds tied to spot trading of Bitcoin.


Bitcoin

has declined 5.1% to $43,007 over the last 24 hours. The largest cryptocurrency broke through $45,000 on Tuesday but subsequently fell as low as $41,361 on Wednesday.

Most of the drop occurred soon after Matrixport, a crypto financial-services platform, predicted Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission would reject all spot Bitcoin ETF applications in January.

The SEC has a deadline of Jan. 10 to determine whether to approve the spot Bitcoin ETF application filed by ARK Invest and 21Shares. While last-minute doubts about the ETF approval have put a dent in Bitcoin’s rally, the cryptocurrency remains up 56% over the last three months, suggesting the market still thinks the SEC is more likely than not to give a green light for the funds.

“This price movement is likely to be short term, and observers, experts and the markets clearly expect that an approval for a Bitcoin ETF in the US is a matter of when, not if,” said Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.

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Beyond Bitcoin,


Ethereum

—the second largest cryptocurrency— was down 6.2% at $2,228. Among smaller cryptocurrencies,


Solana

was falling 9.1% and


Cardano

dropped 8.6%.


Dogecoin

fell 9.5%.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com