Bitcoin passes $31K, poised for best week since March

Bitcoin soared to around $31,230 Friday afternoon in New York for the first time since April

June 23, 2023 12:55 pm

愚木混株 cdd20/Unsplash modified by Blockworks

Bitcoin extended its recent rally Friday, surpassing $31,000 and setting the token up for its best week since mid-March.

Bitcoin (BTC) soared to $31,230 Friday afternoon in New York. The largest crypto is now up around 20% since June 18, good for its best performing week since March 13, when the asset rallied around 26% on the heels of stablecoin USDC’s depegging.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

Bitcoin has now marked its highest four-hour candle close in over a year.

Friday’s spike comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before Congress on the state of monetary policy. The central bank head told lawmakers the inflation fight “has a long way to go,” adding that rate hikes are likely not through — despite an agreed-upon pause earlier this month.

The rally comes as investors continue to bet on increased institutional adoption and the potential for a bitcoin spot ETF approval in the coming months. BlackRock, Bitwise and WisdomTree have submitted applications in recent weeks.

“The Great Accumulation of bitcoin has begun,” Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of exchange Gemini, said in a tweet this week. “Anyone watching the flurry of ETF filings understands the window to purchase pre-IPO bitcoin before ETFs go live and open the floodgates is closing fast.”

Ether (ETH) similarly extended gains on Friday, moving 3% and approaching the $2,000 level. Equities, meanwhile, were in the red at time of publication, The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes lost 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.

Tags

Newsletter

The Breakdown

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2026

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

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.

buy tickets learn more

recent research

Research

Kinetiq Protocol: From LST Infrastructure to HIP-3 Deployer

Kinetiq has established itself as Hyperliquid's dominant liquid staking protocol, holding 82.5% of LST market share with $610M in TVL. The protocol is now expanding beyond its kHYPE staking core into higher take-rate verticals: iHYPE for institutional custody rails, Launch for HIP-3 capital formation, and Markets for builder-deployed perpetuals. We view Markets, launching Jan. 12, as the highest-potential product line given its mechanically scalable, activity-linked unit economics. Near-term revenue remains anchored by kHYPE's KIP-2 fee schedule (~$1.6M annualized), while Markets provides embedded optionality if HIP-3 economics normalize post-Growth Mode. KNTQ's setup is relatively clean: zero insider unlocks until November 2026, 6.2% buyback yield from staking revenue, and cleared airdrop overhang. Risks center on unproven Markets execution, declining kHYPE TVL despite ongoing incentives, and competition from Hyperliquid's native initiatives.

by Shaunda Devens