The court clears the way for Bitcoin spot ETF, and Bitcoin surges $2,000 during trading, with concept stocks collectively rising by double digits.

The recent ruling by a U.S. judge means that the long-awaited Bitcoin spot ETF in the cryptocurrency community is more likely to be launched, leading to a sharp rise in Bitcoin and related concept stocks. On Tuesday, August 29th, Eastern Time, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington announced the joint ruling of three judges, overturning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision last year to reject the proposal, bringing digital asset management company Grayscale Investments LLC one step closer to launching a Bitcoin spot ETF. Media comments suggest that if Grayscale's Bitcoin spot ETF is approved, it could be a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry, as it could attract billions of dollars in investment from ordinary investors. In June of last year, the SEC rejected Grayscale's application to convert its Bitcoin trust, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into a Bitcoin spot ETF. The SEC believed that Grayscale's plan to list the Bitcoin spot ETF on NYSE Arca, a subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange, was insufficient to prevent fraud and market manipulation. Shortly thereafter, Grayscale quickly filed an appeal against the SEC, accusing the SEC of discriminating against its products, as the SEC had previously approved similar Bitcoin futures ETFs. On Tuesday, the appeals court stated that Grayscale had presented substantial evidence that its product was similar to the previously approved Bitcoin futures ETF by the SEC. The underlying assets of the two products are closely related, and Grayscale's supervisory sharing agreement is "identical" to that of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), which launched the Bitcoin futures ETF. One of the judges involved in the ruling, Neomi Rao, stated that the SEC's rejection of Grayscale's application was "arbitrary and capricious," and the SEC failed to explain why similar products were treated differently. Grayscale subsequently stated that the appeals court's ruling was a "milestone step forward for U.S. investors." Currently, the SEC can still challenge Tuesday's appeals court ruling by requesting a review by all judges of the appeals court or by the U.S. Supreme Court. Within the next 45 days, the SEC can request that all judges of the appeals court reconsider Tuesday's ruling. If the appeals court refuses to hear the case, the SEC will have 90 days to request a review by the Supreme Court. Following the announcement of the appeals court's ruling, Bitcoin, Grayscale's Bitcoin trust GBTC, and several other cryptocurrency concept stocks surged during Tuesday's trading session. During the early trading session of the U.S. stock market, the spot price of Bitcoin quickly jumped from just below $26,000 to above $27,000, and at one point during the midday session, it surpassed $28,100, reaching a new intraday high since August 17th, with an increase of over $2,200 and nearly 9% compared to the intraday low during European trading. The trading price of GBTC surged from below $18 to above $20, with an intraday increase of over 20%, starting from less than 1%. Among the concept stocks, Marathon Digital (MARA) once rose more than 30%, Coinbase (COIN), the largest cryptocurrency exchange and the first listed cryptocurrency exchange, rose 17%, Cipher Mining (CIFR), Hut 8 Mining (HUT), Riot Platforms (RIOT), Bitfarms (BITF), Stronghold Digital (SDIG), Hive Digital (HIVE), and Bit Digital (BTBT) all rose more than 10% during the trading session. There was also good news in the cryptocurrency circle on Tuesday. Social media X, formerly known as Twitter, obtained a "Rhode Island Coin Transfer License" in the United States. This license allows the holder to control and trade virtual currencies on behalf of others. Such licenses are usually granted to companies that provide cryptocurrency-related services, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, and payment processors. Obtaining the license means that more than 400 million users may directly engage in cryptocurrency transactions. This will greatly promote the application of cryptocurrencies.