Bitcoin currently is enjoying a positive week with headlines from around the world sending the price above the $7,500 for the first time in a month. The crypto community is eager for the momentum to continue and after some much-needed regulatory clarity from the central banks of G20 nations, and interest from the world’s leading asset manager, Blackrock, a return to $10,000 they say is now all the more likely.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin is the ‘peg’ for other currencies when it comes to trading. BTC also dominates the market cap of the total cryptocurrency space while being the only cryptocurrency futures are traded for through major commodity exchanges like the CBOE.

The biggest factor for the recent boost is mostly SEC’s consideration of the CBOE’s application to buy Bitcoin through ETFs (exchange-traded funds). This would allow institutional money to purchase BTC for the general public and anyone interested in investing in their fund. Thus far, every application for a Bitcoin ETF has been rejected. The main concerns the U.S. regulatory body had with ETFs and BTC were how to protect the investor if the BTC were stolen (insurance) and whether the infrastructure was in place for ETFs to purchase large quantities of BTC. With the CBOE guaranteeing that they have handled the insurance and infrastructure issues, it seems this may be the first ETF approved to purchase BTC.

Another reason for Bitcoin’s price rise is money coming in from institutional investors. More than 50% of the money that entered the crypto space since 2018 has been institutional money. Now that BTC has been acquired by the institutions at discounted prices, it would not be surprising to see ETFs come in and begin acquiring as well. This is assuming ETF approval does take place which seems likely even though every application has been rejected by the SEC to date.

Despite bitcoin's latest price rally, the world's largest cryptocurrency is still struggling to reach mainstream adoption, and now the European Union (EU) has warned bitcoin and other decentralized cryptocurrencies could be derailed by the world's central banks.

A report on fintech competition, commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (Econ), which oversees the decisions made by the EU's European Central Bank (ECB), found that if banks and central banks were to issue their own cryptocurrencies it could be bad news for the likes of bitcoin.

The report, which included analysis of competition in banking, forex, insurance, wealth management, personal finance, as well as cryptocurrencies, also found there could be a risk to bitcoin from lack of competition in the mining industry. Some 79% of the bitcoin mining industry is controlled by only five mining pools.

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