crypto markets at the end of 2022 following a $1.5 trillion wipeout has 12 months later given way to a very different sentiment: avarice. Bitcoin stormed back with a more than 160% advance this year that added some $530 billion to its market capitalization. In its wake, myriad smaller tokens ranging from Sam Bankman-Fried-backed Solana to dog- and frog-themed memecoins took off as investors embraced risk again.
An investor who bought $100,000 of Solana at the start of 2023 would now be sitting on a more than $800,000 gain. Underpinning much of the bonanza is optimism that US regulators will soon give their first blessing for an exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin. Investors will find out by Jan.
10 if that bet, which crypto bulls consider a near-certain winner, pans out. “The approval of the spot ETFs is going to be a major catalyst, it’s going to definitely drive a demand shock" as mainstream investors currently lack a “high bandwidth, compliant" investment channel for the token, Michael Saylor, co-founder of Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy Inc., said on Bloomberg Television. Digital-asset markets still have plenty of detractors who argue cryptocurrencies are fundamentally worthless and a haven for criminals.
Binance, the largest exchange, in November agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine for a range of violations and Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao was forced to step down. Bankman-Fried has been jailed for fraud at FTX, and liquidity has yet to fully recover from the collapse of his empire. Bitcoin’s rally this year topped stocks and gold.
Read more on livemint.com