Bitcoin surpasses $47,000 for first time since late 2021

The price of Bitcoin surpassed a significant level as the race for a spot exchange-traded fund approval heats up. 

The world's most popular cryptocurrency by market capitalization broke past $47,000 at around 2:15 p.m. ET. Bitcoin now trades at $47,109 as of 2:20 p.m. ET — a 6.85% 24-hour increase — The Block's bitcoin price data show. 

Bitcoin surpassed $45,000 this morning at 8:00 a.m. ET, correlating with $6 million in shorts, The Block previously reported. 

Spot bitcoin ETF bullishness

As the first-ever spot bitcoin ETF gears up for a potential green light, the effect of a new exchange-traded fund could drastically impact the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin and other crypto markets saw renewed interest as a spot bitcoin ETF approval became increasingly more expected toward the end of last year, with crypto exchange volume breaking $1 trillion for the first time since late 2022. 

A spot bitcoin ETF could cause up to $100 billion in new inflows to occur throughout 2024, leading to a possible future of bitcoin's price reaching $200,000 by the end of the year, Standard Chartered said earlier today.