Bitcoin pared back its big new year gains on Wednesday before slightly recovering on the third day of the year, thanks in part to a new bearish report by a crypto researcher.
On the 15th anniversary of the minting of Bitcoin’s genesis block, the most popular cryptocurrency was trading down 4% at about $43,300, down from the two and a half year high of $45,800 it reached on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko. That high came as Bitcoin jumped nearly 8% to start the new year.
On Wednesday the coin hit a speed bump on its path to what some say is an extended bull run in the making in response to a new report by Markus Thielen, founder and head of research for 10x Research. In the report, Thielen, who was previously head of crypto research and strategy for digital asset investment firm Matrixport, rejected the commonly held belief that a spot Bitcoin ETF will be approved this month by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Much of Crypto Twitter painted the new report as Thielen’s personal opinion that was mostly not backed by new information. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said in a post on X that he had “heard nothing to indicate anything but approval.” A report by Fox Business on Wednesday also claimed that the SEC was holding meetings today with exchanges such as Nasdaq, CBOE, and the New York Stock Exchange to finalize comments related to spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Despite the pushback, Bitcoin still fell.
People tagging me like crazy on this “rejection” report. We have heard nothing to indicate anything but approval but I want to give the guy benefit of doubt so I’m asking if he has any sources or if he just speculating. He seems to be bitcoin bull and recently tweeted… https://t.co/KV7k4NXtba
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 3, 2024
Some Bitcoin supporters shook off the report and poked fun at the naysayers.
SEC will approve all bitcoin spot ETFs in January, says a fishing rod on the internet pic.twitter.com/pC3v9hk5na
— Smoothie (Rog IRL) (@ol_smoothie) January 3, 2024
Ether, the second-most popular cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin, also fell 6.5% on Wednesday after an early year boost. Other altcoins such as Solana, Chainlink, and Polygon all fell double digits amid the broader selloff.
