Bitcoin ( BTC ) briefly surpassed the $37,000 mark for the first time in 18 months as the wider markets reflect optimism over the pending approval of spot BTC exchange-traded funds in the United States.

Data from a number of cryptocurrency market platforms, including Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView , showed BTC/USD hitting $37,073 at 07:47 EST on Nov. 9 before retracing below the mark.

Bitcoin Futures were also trading over $37,000 soon after, with price data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) going as high as $37,450 at 5:22am EST.

Bitcoin briefly tops $37k amid market optimism for pending spot ETF approvals image 0 Source: CNBC.

Bitcoin’s most recent price surge has been attributed to the pending approval of 12 separate spot Bitcoin ETFs over the next week. According to Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, the SEC has a window up until Nov. 17 to approve a number of high-profile offerings from prominent U.S. fund managers.

While there is much fanfare over the potential approval of these highly-anticipated BTC products, both analysts have also noted that there could be a lag time of a month or more before these offerings actually launch. 

Meanwhile Grayscale, which is the largest cryptocurrency asset manager in the U.S., has also reportedly engaged the SEC directly as it looks to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to a spot Bitcoin ETF. The US is yet to see a spot Bitcoin ETF approved. This offering allows investors to gain indirect exposure to a financial product that is physically backed by BTC.

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