On Friday, the price of Bitcoin broke a new record and exceeded $70,000 for the first time in history. According to Coin Metrics, at one point it rose to $70,170, surpassing the previous record set on Tuesday. The cryptocurrency ends the week with a 10% increase and a price of $68,504.
The growth started around the time the US stock market opened. With the introduction of bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds in the US, big cryptocurrency moves now tend to occur during traditional stock trading hours.
The progress may have been driven in part by investors weighing the February jobs report, hoping that a higher unemployment rate and lower-than-originally reported employment growth in December and January would pave the way for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates later.
Cryptocurrency trading was particularly volatile this week. After bitcoin hit a new record for the first time in more than two years on Tuesday, it quickly fell by as much as 10%, dragging other crypto assets down with it, before recovering most of those losses the next day.
«Tuesday’s sharp sell-off in bitcoin was healthy, necessary, and a prelude to further growth. Volatility defines bull markets in bitcoin, and 2024 will be dotted with sudden and stunning drops of 10-20%,» said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Nexo.
Source: CNBC