Bitcoin climbed to its highest level in more than a year Friday after surging above $31,000. The advance stretched its weekly gain to nearly 20%.
The cryptocurrency peaked at $31,410 midday in New York amid fresh enthusiasm from bulls, pulling related stocks including Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) higher. Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) also gained.
The outperformance of Bitcoin recently has been tied in part to a filing last week from BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, seeking approval for a spot-bitcoin ETF. If approved, it would be the first of its kind, and many experts believe it would increase accessibility and create demand for the asset.
So far dozens of attempts have been made to get a spot-bitcoin ETF approved but all have failed, and the SEC has not shown signs yet that it will back down.