Bitcoin hit a 52-week high on Friday. Photo illustration by Fortune
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency hit its highest price in a year after several blue-chip firms from the world of traditional finance openly embraced the sector.
Bitcoin reached nearly $31,400 on Friday afternoon, a level not seen since June 2022, before retreating slightly. At time of publication, it was hovering around $31,000.
After falling below $25,000 after the Federal Reserve signaled at its June meeting that more rate hikes could be possible, the cryptocurrency has made a big comeback. On Wednesday, the coin jumped 12% and broke the $30,000 mark for the first time since April.
Bitcoin had mostly held steady around the $30,000 mark since Wednesday, with many crediting the increased attention shown from TradFi firms.
Last week, the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, applied to create a Bitcoin spot ETF, and then WisdomTree and Invesco filed separate applications to do so.
On Tuesday, EDX Markets, a new crypto exchange backed by Citadel Securities, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab, launched with a business model that it claims will combine the best practices of traditional finance and crypto.
