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Cryptocurrency prices were marginally higher Friday, looking to end a volatile week on an upbeat note.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.11% the world’s biggest digital currency, was trading at $6,502.42 in early afternoon Friday trading, up 0.6% since Thursday’s level at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on the Kraken crypto exchange. For the week, bitcoin is on track for a 4.2% rise.
The total value of all digital currencies slumped to a 10-month low Wednesday of $186 billion, however, Thursday’s swift turnaround added as much as $20 billion, buoyed by a report that Morgan Stanley MS, +0.98% is on the cusp of offering clients a product to get exposure to bitcoin, joining a number of other banks reportedly heading down the bitcoin route. “Though it might be taking longer than some were expecting, adoption of cryptotrading on Wall Street is going ahead as planned,” wrote Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro.
According to data from CoinMarketCap the total value of all cryptocurrencies was $201 billion.
Novogratz says bitcoin bottom is in
Aiding Thursday’s rally was former hedge-fund manager and prominent bitcoin bull Michael Novogratz calling the bottom in bitcoin. “This is the BGCI chart…I think we put in a low yesterday.,” Novogratz tweeted Thursday. The BGCI is the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto index measures the value of major digital currencies in U.S. dollar terms.
This is the BGCI chart...I think we put in a low yesterday. retouched the highs of late last year and the point of acceleration that led to the massive rally/bubble... markets like to retrace to the breakout..we retraced the whole of the bubble. #callingabottom pic.twitter.com/EasTBYgjSj
— Michael Novogratz (@novogratz) September 13, 2018
Novogratz drew attention in the latter half of 2017 when he said bitcoin would reach $40,000 by the end of 2018 and added that bitcoin is a bubble, but a bubble worth buying.
Ether holds $200, futures move higher
After months in the doldrums, Ether ETHUSD, +6.89% posted a strong gain Thursday, climbing as much as 15%. In Friday trading, the second largest digital currency was adding to gains, trading higher by 3.7% at $213.12.
Elsewhere, Litecoin LTCUSD, +8.28% was up 2.4% at $55.32 and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, +0.97% was higher by 0.7% at 28 cents. Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -1.94% was bucking the trend, trading down 2.9% to $454.30.
Futures rallied Friday. The Cboe Global Markets Group Inc.’s September contract XBTU8, +1.60% was up 1% at $6,485, and the comparable CME Group Inc. September contract BTCU8, +1.32% was trading 0.9% higher at $6,495.
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