Online Reporter
Bitcoin rose to US$120 000 for the first time since setting a record high seven weeks ago as speculation increases that the US government shutdown will drive investors to safe-haven assets.
The original cryptocurrency has long been referred to as “digital gold” by advocates, who see it serving a similar role as the precious metal during times of turmoil. Gold retreated from a record high on Thursday.
“For the first time in a while, the macro theme seems to have taken hold of Bitcoin, which has seen US$1,5 billion of ETF inflows week to date, and appears to be attempting to catch up to gold’s eye-watering move of the last few weeks,” said Karim Dandashy, an over-the-counter trader at crypto trading firm Flowdesk.
The largest digital-asset by market value rose for a sixth straight day, and is up about 10 percent since Friday. Bitcoin was around 2 percent higher at $120 163 as of 2:37 p.m. in New York. It reached a record US$124,514 on August 14.
Smaller, more volatile tokens were up even more, with Solana rising 5,7 percent, Litecoin advancing 6,7 percent and Dogecoin strengthening 4,7 percent. Crypto-related stocks also rallied. Exchange operator Coinbase Global rose 7,8 percent, Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy climbed 3,5 percent and miner MARA Holdings edged up 2,1 percent.
David Lawant, head of research at digital-asset prime brokerage firm FalconX, added that Bitcoin’s market structure has been waiting for a “breakout” for some time.
“Spot order books have shown persistent sell-side skew for months without a decisive breakdown in price, signaling more absorption than apathy,” said Lawant. “That’s the classic coiled-spring dynamic, when overhead supply thins, rallies can come in sharp, cascading bursts. This could be the situation we are seeing right now in the market.”
Adding to the bullish sentiment is also Bitcoin’s historical outperformance in the month of October, which has earned the nickname “Uptober.” The token has gained in nine of the past 10 Octobers. — Bloomberg
