Bitcoin surges to 17-month high, boosting Crypto sentiment; SOL records impressive gains

In a positive turn of events, Bitcoin has climbed to a level not seen in over 17 months, driven by optimism surrounding the Federal Reserve’s stance on interest rates and the emergence of a potential new source of demand in the exchange-traded fund sector. Over the past 24 hours, the largest digital token has experienced a 4% increase, reaching $35,840 as of Thursday morning. Other smaller coins, including SOL from the Solana network, have also seen significant gains, with SOL surging by 142% to $42 since mid-September.

This year, Bitcoin has more than doubled in value, partly due to speculation that the Securities and Exchange Commission may greenlight applications from companies like BlackRock Inc. to launch the first-ever US ETFs directly investing in the token.

According to Michael Safai, a partner at proprietary trading firm Dexterity Capital LLC, the $35,000 mark has become a notable resistance level, but the buzz around the ETF developments is providing enough momentum for potential pushes toward $37,000.

Furthermore, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has hinted at a potential end to the most aggressive rate-hiking cycle in four decades, leading to widespread gains across global markets in stocks, bonds, and commodities.

Grayscale Investments LLC’s research team argues that Bitcoin’s rise is also fueled by its perception as “digital gold,” serving as a non-sovereign monetary system and a digital alternative to physical gold.

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As for SOL, its surge can be attributed to the Solana project’s efforts to distance itself from its association with the discredited former crypto mogul, Sam Bankman-Fried. Solana is now in direct competition with Ethereum, the primary commercial platform in the crypto space, in a bid to capture a larger share of digital asset activity.

One potential driver for SOL’s growth is Solana’s impressive operational performance, experiencing only one network outage in 2023 compared to 14 incidents last year.

Although the overall market value of crypto tokens has risen to $1.36 trillion, it remains below the peak of $3 trillion reached in 2021, as per CoinGecko data. Investor demand and liquidity have also receded from the levels seen during the previous peak when stimulus injections and historically low borrowing costs led to a digital asset price bubble.

Notably, there are early signs of heightened interest from institutional investors, which could help address the current liquidity challenge, as mentioned by Noelle Acheson in the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter.