Crypto Market Update: Bitcoin Surges Amid ETF Inflows and Speculation on U.S. Elections

Crypto Market Update

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Bitcoin surged past the $61,000 mark early Tuesday morning, largely driven by a significant influx of funds into U.S.-based spot ETFs, which recorded their second-highest inflow of the month. According to data from SoSoValue, Bitcoin ETFs saw over $61 million in net inflows, a noteworthy increase since the $192 million recorded on August 8. Leading this surge was BlackRock’s IBIT, accounting for $92 million of the inflows, while Bitwise’s BITB faced $25 million in outflows. In an additional notable transaction, Japan’s Metaplanet announced it had completed a Bitcoin purchase valued at $3.4 million, increasing its total holdings to 360.368 BTC. As of this writing, Bitcoin is trading just below $60,800, reflecting a 4.6% increase in the past 24 hours, outperforming the broader crypto market, which has seen a 4% rise as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index.

Traders are actively speculating on how the upcoming U.S. elections may impact the digital assets sector, with millions locked in Bitcoin options related to the electoral outcome. Options tied to the elections began trading on Deribit about a month ago, and the notional open interest—representing the dollar value of active options contracts—has reached $345.83 million, as reported by Amberdata. Notably, call options, which offer unlimited upside potential with limited risk, represent 67% of this total open interest. The put-call ratio stands at less than 0.50, indicating that there are twice as many call options open compared to puts, which reflects a prevailing bullish sentiment regarding the electoral results.

In a significant development for the crypto industry, State Street has forged a partnership with digital asset custodian Taurus to advance its tokenization initiatives, with plans to extend into crypto custody as soon as the regulatory landscape in the U.S. becomes more favorable. With an impressive $44.3 trillion in assets under management, State Street aims to launch tokenized versions of traditional assets. Donna Milrod, Chief Product Officer and Head of Digital Asset Solutions at State Street, emphasized the bank’s stance on the need to amend SAB 121, which currently requires banks eager to hold crypto to reserve an excessive amount of capital to mitigate associated risks. “While we’re starting with tokenization, that’s just the beginning. Once U.S. regulations provide clarity, we will be ready to roll out digital custody services as well,” she stated in a recent interview.

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