Bitcoin rose 4.5% on Friday, hitting $60,000 for the first time since April as it slowly approaches its record high of $64,895. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has risen by more than half its value since Sept. 20.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to allow the first U.S. bitcoin futures ETF to begin trading next week, according to Bloomberg.

"It is widely expected that Q4 will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the U.S.," Ben Caselin, head of research and strategy at Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange AAX, told Retuers.

Fund managers such as Invesco, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, and ProShares have applied to launch Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. Approval of ETF would give mainstream investors exposure to bitcoin and would be a defining moment for the crypto industry.

“The ETF news is being priced in with the market expecting an approval on Monday. This is driving the price up,” Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia Pacific at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told CNBC.

“However, we are at high time frame resistance here around 58-60K, hence a rejection on the ETF application could send Bitcoin back to 53-55K levels. But overall the trend is still bullish and there are a number of other ETF applications in the pipeline as well,” Ayyar added.

The SEC approving ETF is a small but crucial step for crypto enthusiasts. Bitwise Asset Management chief investment officer Matthew Hougan says it's a “crawl, walk, run market,” adding that SEC chair Gary Gensler wants to be supportive of the growing crypto market while cracking down on fraud, nefarious elements, and criminal activity.

A big reason why ETF has not been approved was concerns over market manipulation and the SEC being unlikely to approve a pure-play bitcoin ETF along with wanting to regulate the spot market more. The agency will also want further proof the regulated market is doing a good job and not being manipulated by the spot market.

Bitcoin was trading at $60,148.97 as ETF is set to launch on Tuesday.

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