Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $64,000 for the first time in three weeks, before retreating to $63,450 in early European trading hours on Friday, up 2% over the past 24 hours and up 10% over the past week.
Ethereum (ETH) followed, at $2,550, up 5% over the past 24 hours and up 9% over the past week.
The momentum also added fuel to the market's rally, along with inflows into bitcoin and ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net inflows of $158 million on Thursday, with Arch Invest and 21Shares' ETF ( ARKB ) leading the charge with $81 million in one-day inflows, according to data from Soso Value. Fidelity's Bitcoin ETF ( FBTC ) also posted strong gains, with net income of $49.8 million.
Ethereum spot ETFs attracted investors, with the BlackRock (ETHA) ETF posting a net inflow of $5.2 million on the same day.
While the influx of capital into Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs suggests that investor confidence is growing, analysts are expressing optimism about the possibility of a further rally.
In a memo to Decrypt, Abra's head of trading, Bob Walden, noted that the market is showing signs of an extended bullish run.
“Crypto is trading at monthly highs, and the market is set for a strong rally. The news flow is highly bullish, indicating consensus that the current trend has begun,” Walden said. He added that October typically favors Bitcoin and predicts that if current momentum continues, the cryptocurrency could surpass $74,000 by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the rise in the price of Bitcoin has led to more liquidity.
In the last 24 hours, 58,848 traders were kicked out of the competition, with a total loss of $156.04 million. According to CoinGlass data, short positions were hit hardest by $105.34 million in liquidity, while long positions saw $50.43 million in liquidity.
Alex Kuptsykevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, told Decrypt that the total capitalization of the crypto market increased by 3.2%, reaching $2.21 trillion, and Bitcoin broke above $64,000, quickly approaching a test of the emotionally important 200-day moving average.
Crossing this resistance level opens the door for further gains, suggesting that it could reach $66,000 and $68,000.
Kuptsikevic noted that the price of Solana (SOL) has increased, rising from the low of 20% before the Federal Reserve meeting.
“In the daily time frame, the coin has strengthened above the 50-day moving average and is nearing the 200-day ($154) level at the current level of $150,” he said.
In a memo, BlackRock highlighted Bitcoin's role as a hedge against geopolitical risks and economic instability. He added that while bitcoin may show short-term co-movements with stocks and other “risk assets,” over the long term its fundamental drivers are very different and, in many cases, opposite to those of most traditional investment assets.
“As the global investment community faces heightened geopolitical tensions, concerns over the US debt and deficit situation, and political uncertainty around the world, Bitcoin can be viewed as a unique diversifier of some of these rising fiscal, monetary and geopolitical risks. Investors may face them elsewhere in their portfolios.” Blackrock said.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
Daily Debrief Newspaper
Start every day with top news stories, plus original features, podcasts, videos and more.
