Bitcoin Hits 1-Wk High Amid BlackRock Optimism
By Kapil Rajyaguru
Less than 24 hours after fund management giant BlackRock filed paperwork for a spot bitcoin ETF, bitcoin crossed $26,000 and soared to its highest level in a week.
The largest virtual digital currency by market capitalization was recently trading at $26,225, up nearly 3% over the past 24 hours. BTC was trading below $25,000 – near its three-month low – as recently as Thursday morning before settling at about $25,500 in the hours immediately following the BlackRock filing.
Ether, the second largest crypto in market value, was recently changing hands at $1,716, up 3.4% from Thursday, same time. Earlier this week, ETH lost the $1,700 threshold for the first time since mid March.
Other major cryptocurrencies, including those that tumbled following their mention in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuits against exchanges Binance and Coinbase last week, regained large swathes of ground. SOL, the token of the Solana blockchain, was recently up more than 7%. ADA, MATIC and ALGO, the native cryptocurrencies of smart contract platforms Cardano, Polygon and Algorand, respectively, rose 3.5%, 3% and 4.1%.
In a speech Friday, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller indicated that the central bank remained concerned about inflation, even as it has weathered criticism that its hawkishness precipitated a March crisis in the banking sector. Earlier this week, the Fed halted a 14-month diet of rate hikes that have often weighed heavily on crypto and other asset markets.
You need to login in order to Like
