Bitcoin saw a continuation of its weekly gains on Friday, briefly crossing the $30,000 mark for the second time in the week. This surge was driven by growing confidence that a spot bitcoin ETF would receive approval and by crypto investors assessing the ongoing uncertainties in the U.S. and worldwide.
The price of the leading cryptocurrency closed the week with a 10.4% increase, marking its most substantial weekly gain since June 23 when it soared by 17%. At one point, it reached a peak of $30,193.87. As for Ether, it also experienced a positive trend, adding 2.46% on the day to trade at $1,606.42. Its weekly gain of 4% was the best performance since September 29 when it increased by 4.4%. On Friday, Ether reached a high of $1,630.03.
Despite the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly surpassing 5% for the first time in 16 years, the gains in cryptocurrencies continue. Historically, higher yields have negatively impacted bitcoin, but the crypto asset is currently benefiting from a significant catalyst that investors have closely monitored throughout the year: the potential approval of the first spot bitcoin ETF in the United States. Earlier this week, JPMorgan suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is likely to give the green light to an ETF in the coming months. Mike Novogratz, whose Galaxy Digital has an ETF application pending with the SEC in partnership with Invesco, expressed his belief that this approval could happen as early as the end of the year.
Over the past couple of weeks, a number of firms have taken the initiative to revise their filings, addressing previous concerns raised by the SEC. Investors view this as a positive indicator, signaling that the regulatory agency is actively engaging with these companies.
Bitcoin, throughout the week, has been strongly influenced by a flight to safety. Noelle Acheson, an economist and the author of the “Crypto is Macro Now” newsletter, noted, “Fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict, concerns about the stability of the U.S. banking system, and general market tension have been propelling both bitcoin and gold to higher levels.” She also highlighted the public support for this narrative coming from prominent investors such as Larry Fink and Paul Tudor Jones, which is further bolstering the trend.
In the broader market, altcoins saw an uptick after the SEC dropped its claims against two Ripple Labs executives, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, in their lawsuit alleging violations of U.S. securities law on Thursday night.
Acheson commented, “Many are – perhaps mistakenly – interpreting the SEC’s dismissal of its case against [them] as a signal that regulatory pressure will decrease. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the case since, by canceling the trial scheduled for next April, the SEC now has the option to appeal the original ruling. While it’s uncertain whether it will do so, in theory, it’s a possibility.”
As for cryptocurrency performance, Ripple’s XRP surged by 6.5%, Litecoin gained 3.5%, and competitors of Ethereum like Solana and Polygon saw their tokens rise by 6.5% and 3.7%, respectively. All of these cryptocurrencies concluded the week with positive gains.
