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Bitcoin hits new year high on Friday above $38,000
- According to Coin Metrics, Bitcoin has hit the $37,800 level for the first time since May 2022.
- Meanwhile, ether moved back above the key psychological $2,000 level, last trading 1.8% higher at $2,104.14.
Yuichiro Chino | Moment | Getty Images
Cryptocurrency prices recovered from a sharp drop earlier in the week, with bitcoin hitting a new 2023 high on Friday.
Bitcoin The cryptocurrency’s price rose 1.42% to $37,862.76 for the first time since May 2022, according to Coin Metrics. It’s on track to end the week up 3.9%. Coin Metrics measures a week in cryptocurrency, which trades 24 hours a day, from 4 p.m. ET on a given Friday to the same time the following Friday.
In the meantime, ether returned above the key psychological level of $2,000, last trading up 1.8% at $2,104.14. The second-largest token by market cap is outperforming the crypto market this week, on track to surpass 8%.
SolanaThe year’s top performer (up over 476% versus bitcoin’s 130%) has lagged the major tokens this week, hovering just below the flatline for the week.
See the table…
Bitcoin surpassed $38,000 to hit a new 2023 high.
Investors are digesting the end of Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s reign at the world’s largest exchange, Binance, after agreeing earlier this week to plead guilty to federal criminal charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The news came less than a month after FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in federal trial for fraud and conspiracy.
While Binance is the largest liquidity pool for crypto trading, many see the exchange’s settlement as a necessary development to allow the crypto industry — still recovering from the 2022 FTX collapse — to move forward. Once the Binance investigation is resolved, some say it could even paving the way for approval of a Bitcoin ETFwhich many investors expect to be the main catalyst that will send bitcoin to major new highs.
Traders also evaluate the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reservewhich were also released on the day of Binance’s settlement and showed officials expressing little appetite for an interest rate cut in the near future.
Coinbasea major rival to Binance, also hit a high of $116.94 for the first time also since May 2022. It last traded up 5.4% at $115.14.
Elsewhere in crypto stocks, Bitcoin proxy Microstrategy rose 2.4%. Bitcoin miners also jumped. The biggest gains came from Iris energy And CleanSparkwhich increased by 12% and 14.8% respectively.
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