Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies were little changed on Friday, pausing near the peak of a rally that pushed prices to 20-month highs in recent days. The U.S. jobs report looms as a macroeconomic catalyst that could move cryptos in the day ahead.
The price of Bitcoin shed 1% over the past 24 hours to $43,250, with the largest digital asset retreating further from its recent peak above $44,000—which marks the highest level since April 2022, before cryptos plunged into a brutal and prolonged bear market. Bitcoin has gained some two-thirds since mid-October, snapping out of a multi-month stretch of subdued crypto trading and sparking calls for a new bull market.
“This week’s performance was the best since late October, when Bitcoin broke above $30,000,” said Rachel Lin, CEO of trading platform SynFutures. “This week’s performance also heavily undermines the idea that we are still in a bear market rally.”
A perfect storm of factors has helped Bitcoin march skyward, including optimism that U.S. regulators will soon approve the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which would be expected to usher in a fresh wave of investor interest in cryptos. An improving macroeconomic backdrop, with expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates multiple times next year, has also helped—as has the fact that token supply is historically tight, with few sellers in the market pinching prices higher.
Like the stock market’s
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500,
Bitcoin could move Friday on the back of the U.S. jobs report for November, due for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The closely watched labor market indicator could advance expectations over the pathway for rates ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy meeting next week.
Beyond Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies continued to rally, with
Ether
—the second-largest token—gaining 4.5% to $2,350. Smaller cryptos or altcoins were also higher, with
Cardano
climbing 9% and
Polygon
popping 4%. Memecoins were more muted, with
Dogecoin
up 1% but
Shiba Inu
4% higher.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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