On Saturday, Bitcoin reached its highest level in two weeks, continuing the previous session’s robust gains as cryptocurrencies benefited from a revival in risk appetite and a stock market rally.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit $41,983, up roughly 16 percent from Thursday’s lows and up 27 percent from the year’s low of $32,950.72 on January 24.
For the first time since January 21, Ether, the cryptocurrency linked to the Ethereum blockchain network, surpassed the $3,000 mark.
Bitcoin’s 11%+ advance on Friday was the highest single-day gain since mid-June, and the first substantial rebound after weeks of being roiled, along with technology and growth sectors, by fears of faster-than-expected Fed rate hikes to tame inflation.
It coincided with a surge in U.S. stocks, with the tech-rich Nasdaq (.IXIC) concluding the week with gains amid considerable volatility from earnings, including Amazon’s strong growth and Meta Platforms Inc’s (FB.O) poor results.
Those synchronized changes demonstrated how bitcoin has evolved into a mainstream asset, shocked by risk appetite swings.
“The current panic and volatility surrounding bitcoin are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of it as an asset class,” said Ed Hindi, a chief investment officer of Swiss-based cryptocurrency hedgefund Tyr Capital.
“When valuations on the Nasdaq fall, misguided institutional investors start liquidating bitcoin positions en-masse as if it were a tech stock.”
The recovery in stocks boosted other listed crypto assets on Friday, with miner Riot Blockchain (RIOT.O) getting a bump after declaring bitcoin production more than doubled in January from a year earlier.
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA.O) rallied after reporting bitcoin production increased, as did crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN.O), which rose more than 7%.
