Bitcoin hits $122,000 as Wall Street bets big — BlackRock ETF grows faster than gold

Bitcoin has gone up over 25% this year, hitting a new high of $122,000. This big jump happened mainly because Wall Street is putting in a lot of money, around $85 billion, through Bitcoin ETFs. One of the main reasons for this rise is that big investors from traditional finance are now investing in Bitcoin, not just crypto fans.

Even though Bitcoin is down about 2% today, it’s still doing way better than most other assets this year. The S&P 500 stock market index is only up 6.58% this year, which is nothing compared to Bitcoin, as per the Fortune report.

Bitcoin’s ride is smoother now

Even though Bitcoin used to be super jumpy, this time it hit its high with less volatility. The reason it's more stable now is because so much money is coming in through ETFs, making Bitcoin more “liquid” and keeping its price in a tighter range. Just last Thursday, Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. got $1.17 billion in a single day, as per the reports.


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BlackRock's ETF is growing super fast

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which only started 18 months ago, already holds $80 billion. In comparison, it took the SPDR Gold Shares ETF about 15 years to reach that same amount, as per the Fortune report.

Wall Street poured $35 billion into new Bitcoin ETFs in 2024, and another $50 billion more came in this year so far, according to the reports.

U.S. Dollar getting weaker = Bitcoin getting stronger

The U.S. dollar lost almost 10% of its value this year. People don’t want to hold cash that’s losing value, so they’re putting money into Bitcoin and gold instead. The U.S. just signed a new tax bill, which means high government spending and big deficits (6.5%–7% of GDP). This is causing a "de-dollarisation" trend, as per the report by Fortune.

Global market update

Consumer Price Index (CPI) update coming at 8:30 a.m. ET. Current is 2.4%, expected to rise to 2.7%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.31%, actual index went up 0.65% yesterday. Hang Seng index rose 1.6%, as per the reports.

ALSO READ: BlackRock goes big on crypto — adds $916 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum in just 16 days

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%. Stoxx Europe 600 went up 0.3% in early trading. UK’s FTSE 100 stayed flat but close to crossing the 9,000 level for the first time. Bitcoin dropped 2.56% to around $116,000 in early trading, according to the report by Fortune.

FAQs

Q1. Why is Bitcoin going up in 2025?
Bitcoin is rising mainly because Wall Street investors are putting in huge money—over $85 billion—through new Bitcoin ETFs.

Q2. Is BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF growing faster than gold?
Yes, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust reached $80 billion in 18 months, faster than gold ETFs which took 15 years.