Larry Fink's comments about Bitcoin have sent ripples through the cryptocurrency world.
Crypto markets continued to rise on Tuesday after BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said he was wrong about Bitcoin and called it “digital gold.”
According to CoinGecko, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen over 1% in the past 24 hours, last trading at $64,348. Ethereum (ETH) is up nearly 2% and trading at $3,461. Solana (SOL) is up 4% and Polkadot (DOT) is up 0.5%.
During an interview with CNBC host Jim Cramer on Monday, Fink said he was a “proud skeptic” before changing his view on Bitcoin, saying he now believes it's a legitimate financial instrument with potentially uncorrelated returns.
“This is a legitimate financial product that has the potential to produce uncorrelated types of returns,” he said, “but I think this is a product to invest in when you're feeling more scared. This is a product to invest in when you think countries are devaluing their currencies through excessive deficits, and that's actually what's happened in some countries.”
According to Farside data, BlackRock’s IBIT is the world’s largest spot Bitcoin ETF with inflows of over $18 billion, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with inflows of $9.7 billion.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, meme coins led the gains: PEPE (PEPE) surged 30%, Dogwifhat (WIF) rose 24%, and FLOKI (FLOKI) increased 22%.
According to data from CoinGlass, 68,869 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours, with total liquidation reaching $213.14 million, including $127 million in short positions and $86 million in long positions.
Michael van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, noted that BTC has returned to the range.
“As long as $60,000 holds, I expect the rally to continue towards all-time highs in Q3,” he tweeted.
Mt. Gox Fund
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced on Tuesday that it had received funds from Mt. Gox's creditors.
“We have successfully received creditor funds (BTC and BCH) from the Mt. Gox Trustee. We will endeavour to distribute the funds as soon as possible, but please be aware that it may take 7-14 days for the funds to be credited to your account. The amount to be received has been determined by the Trustee and will be distributed according to their instructions,” the email revealed.
According to blockchain analytics firm Arcam Intelligence, Mt. Gox moved about 92,000 BTC, worth $5.8 billion, to four different wallets on Tuesday, leaving about 138,985 BTC still stored in the wallets, valued at more than $8.85 billion.
On-chain analytics firm Lookonchain believes that Mt. Gox “may be preparing to repay.”
Political situation
Just days after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, former President Trump announced that he would nominate cryptocurrency-friendly Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate.
Known for his strong pro-crypto stance, Vance voted to repeal SAB 121, criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the debt box scandal, and introduced a 2023 bill to protect cryptocurrency companies and gun manufacturers from discrimination.
Vance has not disclosed his recent cryptocurrency holdings, but his 2022 Senate financial disclosures revealed he holds between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets surged on Tuesday, with futures tracking the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.2%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.1%.
