Bitcoin inches higher after outperforming stocks this year 

Bitcoin gained 1% Friday morning, paring losses from earlier in the week that saw the crypto lose as much as 4%

article-image

Emre Kahraman/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The crypto markets rebounded Friday and equities traded sideways as traders made their final moves of 2023.

Bitcoin gained 1% Friday morning, paring losses from earlier in the week that saw the crypto lose as much as 4% between Monday and Tuesday. Bitcoin (BTC) remains up 14% over the month and 159% year-to-date.

Ether (ETH) moved 1.3% higher, extending gains from earlier in the week. Ether is up 17% over the month and 98% year-to-date. 

Solana (SOL) was back in the green after losing as much as 9% Thursday. Analysts say the move was an expected pullback as traders lock in 2023 profits. 

Read more: Meme coins unwind, SOL loses 9% in 24 hours 

“Overall, the bullish trend is completely intact,” Roshun Patel, partner at Hack VC, said. 

Buyers will keep coming even in the event of a 30%-40% decline for SOL, Patel added. 

Equities were trading flat for a second day Friday, with the S&P 500 moving up 0.02% and the Nasdaq Composite losing 0.05%. Analysts were not surprised to see minimal moves this week, given the narratives investors still have to parse through in the new year. 

“Looking forward, we can expect markets to get back to ‘normal’ next week as we start a new year and answer some pretty important (and still undecided) questions about economic growth, actual vs. expected Fed policy, and earnings,” Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research, said. 

Bitcoin outperformed equities in 2023, with the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indexes clocking around 56% and 25%, respectively, year-to-date as of Friday. Risk-on sentiment and growing optimism about a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund have pushed the crypto higher in the last quarter of the year. 

CME futures are now pricing in an 80% probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in or before March 2024. If all goes according to plan, it’s likely to bode well for stocks. 


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

4.png

Research

This months PPGC covered four main areas. Firstly, debriefing the progress and status of the mainnet implementation of the Ahmedabad hard fork. Secondly, a retrospective on the testnet phase of the Ahemdabad Hard Fork. Thirdly, an update on PIP-36 which involves replaying failed state syncs. Lastly, PIP-47 which pushes upgrades to the Polygon Protocol Council.

article-image

Institutions to test out the settlement of “digital assets and currencies” on a network that annually carries more than 5 billion financial messages

article-image

After Bitwise’s XRP ETF filing this week, one industry watcher notes: “Politics will determine whether this happens soon or in a few years”

article-image

Plus, a look back at some of the SEC’s biggest enforcement moves under Gurbir Grewal

article-image

The forward-looking financial system is being championed by several contributors to India’s UPI digital money system

article-image

Multiple teams are pursuing integration cross-chain and off-chain

article-image

An SEC spokesperson told Blockworks the Ripple judgment clashes with Supreme Court precedent and securities laws