BlackRock’s proposed iShares spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) which provides post-trading clearing, settlement, custody, and information services. The move hints the fund could be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Bitcoin (BTC) short sellers have lost over $178 million over the last 24 hours after the price of the cryptocurrency soared past a key resistance level after a ticker registration amplified hops a spot Bitcoin ETF is soon going to be approved.

The largest cryptocurrency market in the world that Chainalysis has studied, according to a recently published report that estimated a transaction volume of $1.2 trillion between July 2022 and June 2023.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Listed on DTCC with IBTC Ticker
• Bitcoin Short Sellers Lose $178 Million After Price Surge
• North America Leads in Crypto Market with $1.2 Trillion Volume: Chainalysis

BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Listed on DTCC with IBTC Ticker

BlackRock’s proposed iShares spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which provides post-trading clearing, settlement, custody, and information services. The move hints the fund could be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

On social media, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the DTCC listing is a part of the process of launching an ETF. The iShares spot Bitcoin ETF would trade under the IBTC ticker if it’s listed on the Nasdaq exchange, where it applied to list and trade in June.

Balchunas said that IBTC is the first spot Bitcoin ETF listed on the DTCC, adding it’s “notable BlackRock is leading charge on these logistics (seeding, ticker, dtcc) that tend to happen just prior to launch.” Per his words, it’s hard “not to view this as them getting signal that approval is certain/imminent.”

Balchunas speculated that the SEC may have already given the go-ahead for BlackRock’s spot ETF, or that the firm is operating assuming it would get the go-ahead. The regulator’s deadline to approve or deny the ETF is January 10.

Bitcoin Short Sellers Lose $178 Million After Price Surge

Bitcoin (BTC) short sellers have lost over $178 million over the last 24 hours after the price of the cryptocurrency soared past a key resistance level after a ticker registration amplified hops a spot Bitcoin ETF is soon going to be approved.

Data shows that nearly half of the total crypto liquidations of $400 million on Monday came from Bitcoin-tracked futures, while Ether futures only had $50 million in liquidations across both long and short positions.

Liquidations occur when an exchange forcibly closes a trader’s leveraged position over a partial or total loss of the initial margin. When a trader cannot meet margin requirements for their leveraged position, meaning they have insufficient funds to uphold the trade, they are liquidated.

Binance, Huobi, and OKX saw over $50 million of liquidations each, suggesting a large amount of leverage was being used on these exchanges. The largest single liquidation occurred on Binance to the tune of $10 million.

These liquidations came after BTC’s price rose over 12% to surpass the $35,000 mark, before correcting slightly to now trade around $34,000.

North America Leads in Crypto Market with $1.2 Trillion Volume: Chainalysis

The largest cryptocurrency market in the world that Chainalysis has studied, according to a recently published report that estimated a transaction volume of $1.2 trillion between July 2022 and June 2023.

The report estimates that North America accounts for 24.4% of the world’s crypto transactions from that period, making the US a global leader in this market, while Canada also plays a big role, ranking seventh in the world.

Chainalysis’ report also shows that institutional activity drives most of North America’s crypto market, with transfers of $1 million or more accounting for 76.9% of the transaction volume. The region’s on-chain activity is split almost evenly between decentralized finance and centralized exchanges, according to the report.

The report also delves into North America’s cryptocurrency activity dropped over the past year over the collapse of FTX in November 2022 and a banking crisis in March, but recovered slightly in June 2023.

Per the firm’s report, stablecoins are less popular in North America than they used to be, as their share of on-chain transaction volume fell from 70.3% to 48.8% between February and June 2023.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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