RIYADH: Cryptocurrencies rose on Friday, with bitcoin headed for a weekly gain following a volatile period that saw it dip below $30,000 for the first time in a month.
Bitcoin, the most traded cryptocurrency, was 1.1 percent higher at $32,419.46 at 12:36 a.m. Riyadh time, according to Coindesk desk data. Ether, the second most traded crypto asset, rose 3.7 percent to $2,056.70.
Bitcoin fell as low as $29,504.96 on July 20 before comments from Elon Musk at the B Word conference the follow day helped stir bullish sentiment. Both Tesla and SpaceX hold bitcoin on their balance sheet, and he personally owns bitcoin, ether and dogecoin, he said.
His comments helped boost prices across the crypto complex, with ether breaking above $2,000 for the first time since July 14.
Crypto traders have experienced a “roller coaster ride,” Lukas Conrad, chief product officer at Bitpanda told Coindesk. “Even though pressure from sellers might be diminishing, buyers won’t turn things around until resistance is broken.”
Core Scientific Holding Co. said on Wednesday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check company backed by BlackRock Inc, in a deal that values the cryptocurrency miner at $4.3 billion.
The deal with Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp will fetch $300 million in cash proceeds, but the companies did not disclose a private investment in public equity (PIPE) round that typically accompanies blank-check mergers.
Core Scientific said it had mined 928 bitcoins in the second quarter and forecast revenues of $493 million and $1.1 billion for fiscal 2021 and 2022, respectively.
The company said it was 100 percent net carbon neutral and aims to remain so as it grows. Bitcoin is virtual but mining the asset consumes a lot of energy as it is created using high-powered computers around the globe.
A survey conducted by the investment bank Goldman Sachs found that 45 percent of family offices are interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Another 15 percent, over 150, said they have already invested in cryptocurrency. And they see the crypto industry as a hedge against higher inflation, prolonged low rates and other macroeconomic developments following a year of unprecedented global monetary and fiscal stimulus.
FTX Trading Ltd said on Tuesday its valuation had risen to $18 billion after a $900 million funding round that included SoftBank Group Corp and was one of the biggest fundraises for a crypto company.
The round saw participation from more than 60 investors, including venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, private equity giant Thoma Bravo, Daniel Loeb's Third Point, the Paul Tudor Jones family and British hedge fund manager Alan Howard.
JPMorgan Chase & Co will allow all of its wealth management clients access to cryptocurrency funds, Business Insider reported on Thursday, citing sources.
The bank told its financial advisers in a memo earlier this week to take buy and sell orders from its wealth management clients for five cryptocurrency products effective July 19, the report said.
Four of such products are from Grayscale Investments and one from Osprey Funds, according to the report. JPMorgan declined to comment on the report.
