Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano Close Higher for Third Week in a Row as Economic Indicators Improve ⋆ ZyCrypto

Bitcoin reclaimed the $24,000 mark on Friday after falling briefly on Thursday. On Saturday, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rose as much as $24,850 as traders sought to recapture the coveted $25,000 level.

On the other hand, Ethereum soared as high as $2,019 on Saturday after a 7% price jump, shedding levels last May and posting its sixth consecutive week of gains. Over the past seven days, Ether has rallied roughly 15.63% and over 100% from its June lows as investors eagerly await the Merge upgrade.

Cryptocurrencies across the board also rallied heading into the weekend, with Cardano, Solana, Polygon and BNB rising over 7%, 10%, 10% and 4% respectively over the past 24 hours.

After taking a crushing loss in the first of the year, most cryptoassets have recovered, but still far from their all-time highs. This rally has been mirrored in traditional markets, with around 70% of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange and the S&P500 and Nasdaq indexes ending the week higher.

The latest CPI data has shown that the historic 40-year high inflation rates are finally slowing down, reducing the chances of another massive rate hike by the Fed in September and bringing back investor confidence in the crypto market.

In the past two months, major asset managers have also launched digital asset services, citing increased interest from their clients. In August alone, major asset management firms Abrdn, Blackrock and Charles Schwab closed deals related to digital assets, a move that could trigger massive institutional investment in the crypto sector, according to Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood.

In an interview on Friday, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital, noted that BlackRock’s Bitcoin Trust and other institutional players would create a demand shock for Bitcoin, given the limited supply, and send prices spiraling.

On-chain calculations on the top two cryptos also seem to be improving. According to Glassnode, financial conditions for Bitcoin miners appear to be improving after miner stress peaked in June when BTC prices fell below $20k. “There has been a noticeable decrease in the distribution of miners to exchanges in recent weeks. This suggests that while stress remains in the industry, the worst may be behind us.” wrote Glassnode.

The upcoming Ethereum merger has also stirred up Ether’s social volume, with investors doubling down on ETH purchases. Earlier this week, Santiment tracked “a large influx of ETH transactions worth $100,000 or more,” a move synonymous with the accumulation of whale addresses.

With the remaining duration full of exciting updates, including Cardano’s Vasil upgrade, the market is likely to see increased volatility. While there is still some uncertainty about where crypto prices may go in the short term, most investors remain bullish on the long term.