Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is set to rise 8.8% on a weekly basis, as it recovered some lost ground and returned to the $70K mark over the week.

The world’s oldest digital currency, kicked off the week on a bullish note, as it hit $69.9K, and has since been roughly stable, after a volatile last week, which saw market participants grow more cautious ahead of the highly-anticipated halving event next month.

On Thursday, BTC hovered near its record high on a day when, former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced for orchestrating the large-scale fraud and conspiracy that led to the downfall of his FTX crypto empire.

“The recent adjustment of Bitcoin price is pretty much finished. The profit-taking was temporary and the investors are still buying the dip and bullish on the long term of Bitcoin, especially for the halving event in April,” said Lucy Hu, senior analyst at digital asset-based wealth management company, Metalpha.

Hu added, the halving event could serve as a boost to Bitcoin (BTC-USD) price and push it to a new high.

BTC also had a strong Q1, as it appreciated ~60% in the quarter, primarily driven by spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the upcoming halving event and modestly more risk-seeking sentiment in the financial market, Canaccord stated in a note.

“While the macro outlook and timing of potential rate cuts remain uncertain, the upcoming halving event could add to the ETF tailwinds for Bitcoin. For the rest of the ecosystem, activity levels continue to rebound from 2023 lows,” Canaccord added.

“Bitcoin often functions as a barometer of liquidity conditions and responded favorably to the Fed’s signal that monetary policy will likely be easing in the near future,” said Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin.

Notable News

• The London Stock Exchange (OTCPK:LDNXF) (OTCPK:LNSTY) will start listing cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes on May 28, subject to the approval of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.
• Coinbase Global (COIN) stock drifted down 2.6% in Wednesday morning trading as a U.S. judge ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against the cryptocurrency exchange can move forward.
• MicroStrategy (MSTR) Executive Chairman Michael Saylor disclosed in an SEC filing, a sale of 5,000 shares of the company worth about $8.8 million.
• Binance said it will end support for USCoin (USDC-USD) deposits and withdrawals on the Tron (TRC20) network as of April 5, 2024, following Circle Internet’s discontinuation of USDC support on the network.
• Marathon Digital (MARA) unveiled its two-phase immersion cooling system that “has the potential to not just benefit Marathon’s own Bitcoin mining operations, but to transform data centers in multiple industries,” Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel said in a statement.

Bitcoin, Ether prices

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was down 1.9% on a daily basis to $69.4K as at 1:32 pm on Friday, and Ether (ETH-USD) fell ~1.7% to $3.5K.