Bitcoin
fell and other cryptocurrencies were little changed Friday, hovering near recent peaks amid a rally that has pushed the market value of digital assets to its highest level in around two years. Crypto stocks, like
Coinbase Global,
also have gained.
The price of Bitcoin has fallen less than 1% over the past 24 hours to below $51,900, having previously traded near $52,800—the highest level for the largest crypto since December 2021. Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent months amid the anticipation and approval in January of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a long-awaited catalyst that bulls hope will usher in a fresh wave of investor interest in tokens.
Crypto’s rally has picked up steam in recent days, with Bitcoin breaching the psychologically important $50,000 mark on Monday and the market capitalization of all tokens inching closer to the $2 trillion level. The total crypto market cap sat at $1.95 trillion as of Friday, around the highest point since digital assets plunged into a brutal and prolonged bear market in spring 2022.
Companies exposed to crypto also have been beneficiaries of the digital asset rally in recent months, which has renewed business models based on token trading and fueled gains for stock prices. Look no further than
Coinbase
Global, the crypto broker, which has seen its stock more than double in the past six months, with shares in the company up more than 10% in premarket trading Friday after strong quarterly earnings.
Multiple factors continue to support token prices, including inflows to spot Bitcoin ETFs as well as jubilation in the stock market, where the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
sit near all-time highs as investor appetite for risk remains strong. Bitcoin’s so-called halving also looms in the months to come, representing a change to the token’s programmatic monetary policy that will cut new issuance, restricting supply and supporting prices.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ethereum
—the second-largest crypto—rose 1% to $2,800. Smaller tokens or altcoins were stronger, with
Cardano
climbing 2% and
Polygon
popping 4%. Memecoins were more muted, with
Dogecoin
and
Shiba Inu
trading just below and above flat, respectively.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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