By Adam Clark
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were rising early Friday. Solana was the standout gainer, after the first U.S. application was filed for a spot exchange-traded fund tied to the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin was up 1.3% over the past 24 hours to $61,519. The largest cryptocurrency has fallen from levels of around $64,000 after news on Monday that the trustee of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox will begin to return more than $8.5 billion worth of the crypto owed to creditors from the beginning of July.
Bitcoin hit a record high near $74,000 in mid-March amid a surge of interest from new spot exchange-traded funds but its price has dropped since then.
Among smaller cryptos, Solana was gaining 6.3% to $144.58. Prices surged after asset-management firm VanEck filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a spot exchange-traded fund based on the cryptocurrency. Solana has a market cap of $67 billion and is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap.
VanEck is the first firm to file for a Solana ETF in the U.S. It launched a spot Bitcoin ETF in January and is among several asset managers waiting to launch the first batch of Ether ETFs.
Ether -- the second-largest crypto -- was up 2.3% at $3,448 and has risen around 80% over the past 12 months.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved critical rule changes to allow spot Ether exchange-traded funds to trade. The final approvals for the ETFs should come this summer, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler told senators in a recent budget hearing.
Smaller cryptos, or altcoins, were in the green with Cardano rising 1.9% and Dogecoin gaining 3.7%.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 28, 2024 03:07 ET (07:07 GMT)
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