...its highest since June 2022...

Catalysts for the sudden exuberance are manifold.

1. Imminent Spot ETF

The most obvious imminent catalysts for bitcoin's sudden gains is the imminent SEC acceptance of a Spot Bitcoin ETF.

As CoinTelegraph reports, EY's global blockchain leader Paul Brody believes that Bitcoin faces a lot of pent-up demand from institutions due to United States regulators not approving a spot Bitcoin ETF for years.

Brody discussed the outlook for the cryptocurrency adoption on CNBC's Crypto Decrypted on Oct. 23, declaring that trillions of dollars in institutional money are waiting to enter Bitcoin once a BTC ETF is approved.

"But any of these other institutional funds, they can't touch this stuff unless it's an ETF or some other kind of regulatory blessed activity," EY's blockchain expert said, adding:

"If you look at people who are buying Bitcoin, they are buying it as an asset. They are not buying it as a payment tool. Those who are buying Ethereum, are buying it as a computing platform for business transactions and DeFi [decentralized finance] services."

And it could be coming sooner than expected as Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas flagged on X that the iShares Bitcoin Trust "has been listed on the DTCC" with the ticker IBTC.

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, operates the iShares business. The DTCC is the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., which undertakes clearing and settlement in US markets.

"This doesn't mean it's technically approved," Balchunas said in an interview.