Bitcoin extended its weekly gains on Friday, briefly surpassing $30,000 for the second time this week, as confidence grew that a spot Bitcoin ETF will soon be greenlit and crypto investors continued to weigh uncertainty in the USA and abroad weighed up.
According to Coin Metrics, the price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last up 2.76% to $29,538.99 on Friday. It ended the week up 10.4%, making it its best week since June 23, when it rose 17%. At times the price climbed to as high as $30,193.87. Ether gained 2.46% on the day to trade at $1,606.42 and was up 4% for the week – its best week since September 29, when it gained 4.4%. On Friday, Ether rose to a high of $1,630.03.
The gains come even as the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield briefly exceeds 5 percent for the first time in 16 years. Higher yields have negatively impacted Bitcoin in the past, but the crypto asset is benefiting from a key catalyst that investors have been watching all year: the approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the US. Earlier this week, JPMorgan told the Securities Exchange Commission that it is likely to approve an ETF in the next few months. Mike Novogratz, whose Galaxy Digital has an ETF application with the SEC in collaboration with Invesco, told CNBC he believes this could happen as early as the end of the year.
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Bitcoin hit $30,000 on Friday for the second time this week
Several firms have also amended their filings in recent weeks to address previous SEC concerns, which investors see as a positive sign that the agency is working with the firms.
Over the week, Bitcoin was also driven by a flight to safety.
“Fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict, nervousness about the U.S. banking system and general market tension are driving Bitcoin and gold higher,” said Noelle Acheson, economist and author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter. “Furthermore, the public support of this narrative from renowned investors like Larry Fink and Paul Tudor Jones doesn’t hurt.”
In the rest of the market, altcoins rose after the SEC dropped charges Thursday evening against two Ripple Labs executives — CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen — in their lawsuit alleging the company violated U.S. securities laws.
“Many perceive, perhaps incorrectly, the SEC’s dismissal of the case as negative [them] “This is a sign that regulatory pressure will ease,” Acheson said. “Unfortunately, that will not be the case as by canceling the trial scheduled for next April, the SEC can now appeal the original ruling. “I don’t know for sure if it will, but theoretically it is possible.”
Ripple’s XRP rose 6.5%. Litecoin gained 3.5%, and Ethereum competitors Solana and Polygon saw their tokens rise by 6.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Everyone ended the week in the green.
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Source : www.cnbc.com