Investing.com-- Bitcoin’s price rose to a three-week high on Friday and was headed for a strong week as risk appetite was boosted by an outsized interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
While the world’s biggest cryptocurrency had initially logged a mixed reaction to the rate cut, it eventually tracked an uptrend in other risk-driven markets, specifically stocks. Broader cryptocurrency prices rose on Friday and were also set for weekly gains.
Bitcoin rose over 1% to $63,514.0 by 08:21 ET (12:21 GMT) - its highest level since mid-August.
Bitcoin heads for a weekly gain
Bitcoin was trading up around 6% this week, and was headed for a second positive week.
Sentiment towards crypto markets was boosted by the Fed’s 50 basis point rate cut, given that lower rates free up more liquidity that can then be deployed towards speculative assets.
The Fed’s cut marks the beginning of an easing cycle that analysts estimate could bring rates lower by as much as 125 bps by the end of the year.
But bigger gains in crypto- and broader risk-driven markets- were still limited by comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said that the Fed’s neutral rate will be higher than seen in the past.
His comments spurred doubts over just how low interest rates will fall.
The Fed’s outsized cuts also sparked some concerns over the state of the economy, and whether growth will slow in the coming months.
Low interest rates were a key driver of crypto’s 2021 bull run, although the sector has since seen an extended decline in retail interest. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds provided a limited boost to trading volumes earlier this year.
Bitcoin has also remained largely within a tight trading range for most of this year.
Crypto price today: altcoins up, but set for mixed week
Broader cryptocurrency prices rose in tandem with Bitcoin, although altcoins were set for a mixed weekly performance. Recent capital flows into crypto have been largely directed towards Bitcoin and Ether, with the former largely retaining its dominance over the market.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 4.8% to $2,554.74 and was sitting on a 5.6% gain this week.
SOL, XRP, ADA and MATIC rose between 0% and 7%, with Solana up the most this week with a 10% jump. The rest were set for a flat-to-low weekly performance.
Among meme tokens, DOGE rose 1% and was up 0.9% this week.
Bitcoin wallets from 'Satoshi era' move BTC after 15 years
Hundreds of bitcoin mined during the network's early days were moved on Friday, marking one of the rare occasions when bitcoin from the so-called "Satoshi era" has been active. This period refers to the time when Bitcoin creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still participating in online forums, roughly between late 2009 and 2011.
On-chain tracker Whale Alerts flagged the movement of over 250 BTC, valued at nearly $16 million at current prices, during the European morning hours. The transactions, which occurred within an hour, involved batches of 50 BTC being transferred to new wallets.
It remains unclear whether the wallets belong to the same individual or entity, and as of now, none of the newly moved BTC have been sent to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Blockchain data reveals that these bitcoins were received as a block reward in 2009, only months after the network's launch, and had remained inactive until the recent transactions.
Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.