Bitcoin Tapped $63K for the First Time Since April Ahead of Futures ETF Launch (Market Watch)

Bitcoin’s volatility struck again in the past 24 hours as the asset reached $63,000 for the first time since April. Most altcoins have marked minor losses since yesterday, except for Binance Coin, which neared $500.

Bitcoin Touched $63K

The most important news within the cryptocurrency space in the past several days is whether or not the United States will finally have its own Bitcoin ETF, even if it’s a futures one.

Multiple reports emerged since last week claiming that such a product is indeed coming. In fact, the most recent one from yesterday indicated that ProShares’ BTC Futures ETF will launch today – October 19th.

The anticipation for such a significant event led to enhanced volatility for the primary digital asset. BTC traded at $57,000 on October 15th before it shot up to above $60,000 and even neared $63,000 a day later.

It failed to reach it at first, and the bears drove BTC south below $59,000 on Sunday. However, the bulls came back to play and pushed bitcoin north again in the following days.

This culminated in touching $63,000 just a few hours ago, which became the highest price level since April this year. As of now, BTC has retraced by around $1,000, but the potential launch of a Futures ETF later today could bring more volatility.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization has neared $1.2 trillion, while the dominance over the alts is just over 47%.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView

BNB Eyes $500 as Alts Retrace

Most alternative coins have failed to produce significant gains, which is evident by the increasing Bitcoin dominance. Most have charted minor losses in the past 24 hours as well.

Ethereum went above $3,900 a few days ago but was unable to stay there. A 1.2% drop since yesterday has driven the second-largest crypto below $3,800. Cardano, Ripple, Solana, Polkadot, Terra, and Uniswap are also slightly in the red.

Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Avalanche have registered minor gains. Binance Coin has added 4% of value in a day and has tapped $490 for the first time in weeks.

Aside from OKB and Fantom, which have tapped double-digit increases, most of the lower- and mid-cap altcoins have also failed to surge higher.

The cryptocurrency market cap went above $2.5 trillion and came just inches away from a new ATH but was unable to do so, at least for now.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: Quantify Crypto