Bitcoin rebounds above $68,000 as US ETFs continue positive streak

Bitcoin continued its rally over the weekend to break above the $68,000 resistance line during Sunday night trading in Eastern Standard Time. 

The token is up 1.02% in the past 24 hours to trade at $68,032 after reaching a height of $68,480 earlier today, according to The Block’s bitcoin price page. In the past day, the wider cryptocurrency market also gained 0.89%, with more notable gains of 4.73% seen from Solana, trading at $182.12 at the time of writing.

“One of the primary drivers of this momentum is the substantial inflows into bitcoin ETFs,” Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst of BTC Markets, told The Block. The U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded their eleventh consecutive day of positive flows on Friday, with BlackRock’s IBIT accumulating nearly $19 billion in net inflows since inception, according to SoSoValue data. 

“In total, the market has witnessed record net inflows exceeding $17 billion, reflecting heightened institutional interest and confidence in bitcoin as an asset class,” Lucas said.

The market also anticipates the launch of the first batch of spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., expected on Tuesday, July 23, according to Cboe. The list of funds announced by the exchange include the Fidelity Ethereum Fund, the Franklin Ethereum ETF, the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, the VanEck Ethereum ETF and the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF. 

Meanwhile, bitcoin’s gain also appears to be affected by U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not run in the upcoming presidential election in November, which could raise the odds of pro-crypto Republican candidate Donald Trump’s victory. While Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic Party's nominee, Harris has not expressed views for or against the crypto industry.

The exhaustion of large sellers, namely the German government’s recent sale of 50,000 BTC, also contributed to bitcoin’s price move, Lucas added. “The completion of this sale, generating around $2.87 billion, has removed a significant chunk of bitcoin from the market, reducing selling pressure.”

Nonetheless, Lucas explained that the market’s trajectory could still be affected by the pending repayments from the defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange. As most of the expected creditor repayments, totaling $9 billion, are expected to be processed by early August, market dynamics could still face short-term variables, Lucas said.