Bitcoin on track for weekly gain after falling below $30,000

Cryptocurrencies were broadly higher on Friday morning as bitcoin headed for a weekly gain.

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was up 0.9% and was trading at $32,462 (£23,628). Earlier it had fallen below a key support level of $30,000 as regulatory pressure, a strengthening dollar and a global move to de-risk investments hit the crypto market.

Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was up 3.5%, trading at $2,067.

“Moving forward, cryptocurrency investors should keep an eye on the bitcoin price chart, as there has finally been a shift from bad news to good news,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade.

Tesla (TSLA) chief Elon Musk fhad said on Wednesday the company will likely start accepting bitcoin again for vehicle purchases, having earlier decided it would stop due to concerns about the high carbon footprint of crypto mining.

He said this on Thursday, the same day Argo Blockchain (ARB.L) announced it has started building a “green” cryptocurrency mining facility in Texas.

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Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Econimics, cited data from analytics firm CB Insights that blockchain startups managed to raise a total of $4.38bn during the second quarter of 2021.

Aslam added that JP Morgan (JPM) has become the first large bank in the US to provide its advisers with access to five crypto funds that they can trade on behalf of a client. JP Morgan is also said to be working on launching an actively managed bitcoin fund for its clients.

Similarly, Morgan Stanley (MS) announced that it was providing its clients with exposure to cryptocurrencies through two external crypto funds.

But reports about the first death from cryptomining might put a damper on the optimism.

Danai Makmek, a 26-year-old from Thailand, was electrocuted by his homemade computer system, which he was using to collect cryptocurrencies.

Reports said he likely attempted to carry out some repair work himself, worried about losing out on bitcoin if he waited for professional help.

Meanwhile UK bank NatWest (NWG.L) became the latest financial institution to freeze out cryptocurrency trading platform Binance Markets.

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