Bitcoin Surges Beyond Banking Sector Challenges for One of its Most Significant Weekly Advances.
Bitcoin is experiencing one of its largest weekly gains in recent years, up about 25% since the start of Monday. This is due to bets on eventual cuts in interest rates and recent turbulence in the banking sector. The collapse of three US regional lenders and issues at Credit Suisse Group are strengthening expectations of monetary loosening, and this is supporting Bitcoin’s credentials as both an alternative to fiat currency and a hedge against traditional finance. Bitcoin rose by as much as 8.8% on Friday, while Ether added 4.4%. US stocks fell, while Treasuries continued to climb, after a report on major banks putting restrictions on trading with Credit Suisse capped a volatile week for global markets.
Bitcoin now accounts for 43% of the overall crypto market value, the highest proportion since June 2022, according to data from CoinGecko. It has climbed about 63% so far this year and is almost touching the highest level since June 2022, but it is still far from its record of nearly $69,000 from November 2021.
Despite the gains, the digital-asset sector is also contending with a clampdown on regulation in the US following the collapse of FTX crypto exchange. The ramifications of a temporary de-pegging in USD Coin, the second-largest stablecoin that’s supposed to hold a constant value of $1, which occurred over the weekend, are also filtering through the crypto markets. Furthermore, the US Securities & Exchange Commission is doubling down on its contention that most digital assets are securities, a designation that will require greater investor protection and may make tokens harder to trade. However, US regulators generally agree that Bitcoin isn’t a security.
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