Bitcoin soars to $50,000 again on institutional demand
Bitcoin, the world's largest cyrptocurrency in terms of market value, rose on Tuesday, passing the $50,000 mark for the first time in four weeks and adding to gains this month on mounting institutional interest.
In early September, bitcoin fell below $50,000 during a broad selloff in shares of cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms. It fell further in September, hitting a low of $40,596 on Sept. 21.
On Tuesday, bitcoin rose as high as $50,808.25 . It was last up 2.6% at $50,498.
Smaller coins, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, were also up. Ether rose 1.5% to $3,434 and XRP was up 2.2% at $1.0656.
Market participants cited the increase in institutional crypto services from banks and financial institutions to cope with rising investor demand, as one factor driving bitcoin's surge.
· Dollar inches toward one-year high as payrolls test looms
The U.S. dollar edged back toward a one-year high versus major peers on Tuesday ahead of a key payrolls report at the end of the week that could boost the case for the Federal Reserve to start tapering stimulus as soon as next month.
The safe-haven greenback was also supported by an equity sell-off that spread from Wall Street to Asia.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six rivals, rose 0.13% to 93.957, moving back toward Thursday’s peak at 94.504, its highest since late September 2020. The index had rallied as much as 2.8% since Sept. 3 as traders rushed to price in tapering this year and possible rate rises for 2022.
The dollar has also benefited from haven demand amid worries spanning the risk of global stagflation to the U.S. debt ceiling standoff.
· U.S. yields rise on inflation fears, debt ceiling concerns
In afternoon trading, the benchmark U.S. 10-year yield , which last week rose to its highest since June, was last up 5 basis points at 1.5327%.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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