Crypto markets have surged—along with other risk-on assets like U.S. stocks—on news that the American economy may be stronger than previously thought.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have made big gains on Thursday, with smaller-cap digital coins and tokens also jumping significantly.
The price of Bitcoin is currently at $59,401, a 24-hour rise of 8%. Ethereum is up even more over the same period and is now priced at $2,576—a 9% day jump, according to CoinGecko data.
Solana is now trading hands for $157.03, having also risen 9% since yesterday.
Digital assets started the week off bloody, after a jobs report last Friday sparked fears that the U.S. economy could be sliding into a recession, causing a Wall Street sell-off.
A surge in the value of the Japanese yen—a favorite for global traders—against the U.S. dollar on Monday didn’t help, with investors hurrying to sell anything deemed risky—including crypto exposure.
But fears that the U.S. economy may be in serious trouble could be assuaged—at least for now—after data Thursday showed that filings for unemployment benefits decreased from the week prior, soothing investor concerns.
Stocks rose on the news, with the S&P500 and Nasdaq making gains of 2% and nearly 3%, respectively.
David Lawant, head of research at FalconX, told Decrypt that crypto investors were also pleased to hear the news that former customers of collapsed exchange FTX would get their lost investments back.
Today, a judge approved the settlement the collapsed crypto company FTX had with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The failed crypto brand now has to pay $12.7 billion to resolve the lawsuit.
“On the macro side, the soft initial jobless claims number temporarily reduced hard-landing concerns, lifting risk assets more broadly,” he said.
He added: “On the crypto side, the perception that we are one step closer to FTX creditors receiving their $12.7 billion is positive, as part of it could re-enter the market.”
Other cryptocurrencies making big gains include Dogecoin, which is up nearly 7% in 24 hours, trading hands for $0.1028, and Toncoin—up 15% in a day and priced at $6.19.
XRP is the biggest winner over the past day, though, after a judge yesterday ruled that Ripple, the company whose owners created XRP, would have to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a $125 million fine in a long-running lawsuit.
The ruling has been interpreted as a win as the SEC had asked for a $2 billion settlement in the case. XRP, as a result, is up 26% and trading for $0.63.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
