Mimicking the stock market, Bitcoin hit its highest in two weeks on Saturday, extending the previous session’s strong gains.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit $41,983, taking gains from Thursday’s lows to nearly 16%, and marking a 27% rise from the year’s low of $32,950.72 on 24 January.
Friday’s 11% plus was the biggest single-day gain for bitcoin since mid-June, and the first major bounce after weeks of being roiled, along with technology and growth stocks, by fears of faster-than-expected Fed rate hikes to curb a surge in inflation.
In addition to this, Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain network, scaled the $3,000 level for the first time since 21 January.
The recovery in stocks boosted other listed crypto assets on Friday as well, with miner Riot Blockchain getting a bump after declaring bitcoin production more than doubled in January from a year earlier.
Check prices of various cryptocurrencies in the Indian market:
Bitcoin is at ₹32,32499 and has gained 7.43%
Ethereum is at ₹2,34,720.2 and has gained 4.02%
Cardano is at ₹90.1982 and has gained 7.48%
Tether is at 77.94 and lost 1.83%
Solana is at ₹8,948.00 and has gained 7.35%
Avalanche is at ₹6,119.500 and has gained 8.25%
Litecoin is at 9,482.21 and has gained 6.545
XRP is at 52.1903 and has gained 6.925
Axie is at ₹4,580 and has gained 18.96%
Dogecoin is at ₹11.6116 and has gained 4.79%
Shiba Inu is at ₹0.001821 and has gained 8.91%
This comes as finance secretary TV Somanathan said earlier this week that cryptocurrency will never be a legal tender, clearing the air on the legality of private digital currencies in the market.
The 2022-23 Budget has given clarity on taxation of virtual digital assets and proposed to impose a 30 per cent tax on gains made on such trades, besides subjecting crypto transactions, beyond a threshold, to 1 per cent TDS.
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