Friday's crypto rally defied past days' correlation with U.S equities, which continued their losing streak.
– Bitcoin hit a one-month high price, surging 5.5% over the past 24 hours.
– Solana rose 8%, topping $170 for the first time since early June.
– Crypto observers highlight the resiliency of decentralized blockchains as a malfunctioning software update caused worldwide disruptions in IT systems.
The crypto rally resumed on Friday with bitcoin (BTC) notching its highest price in a month, while the world grappled with a major IT outage.
BTC started rising from $64,000 during the early U.S. trading hours and broke above $67,000 later in the day for the first time since June 17. The price increase was accompanied by strong trading volumes for BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF (IBIT). At press time, the largest crypto asset changed hands slightly above $67,000 advancing 5.5% over the past 24 hours.
Solana (SOL) led among altcoin majors with an 8.5% increase over the same period, topping $170 for the first time since early June. The token outperformed the broad-based digital asset benchmark CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), which rose 4.3%.
Ethereum's ether (ETH) reclaimed the $3,500 level, but underperformed with a 3% increase. The first spot-based ETH exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the U.S. will likely start trading on Tuesday next week, Friday regulatory filings by Cboe showed.
Bitcoin targets $100,000 by year-end
Looking at a longer timeframe, bitcoin is trading around the midpoint of a multi-month sideways channel between $56,000 and $73,000. Spot prices might be range-bound in the near term, but traders are increasingly positioning for a breakout to new all-time highs towards the U.S. elections in November, digital asset hedge fund QCP said in a market update. QCP analysts noted strong demand for December $100,000 bitcoin call options from institutions.
Mads Eberhardt, crypto analyst at Steno Research, expressed a bullish view for the second half of the year for crypto assets, supported by multiple tailwinds including coming U.S. interest rate cuts, rising liquidity, regulatory clarity in Europe and rising chances of more crypto-friendly U.S. leadership.
"Bitcoin at $100,000. Ethereum at $6,500," he said about his price targets.
