Bitcoin Surges Past $80,000 As Schwab Broadens Crypto Offerings
In a significant development for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin was traded above $80,000 this Thursday. The surge came as Charles Schwab, a prominent retail brokerage, announced plans to expand the range of cryptocurrencies available in Schwab Crypto accounts. The move includes extending access to Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink – crypto tokens that previously outshone the two already available on the brokerage site, Bitcoin and Ether.
Market Impact of Schwab’s Announcement
The Schwab statement seems to have immediately impacted the market. The three mentioned tokens responded positively, recording notable growth on the day. Solana (SOL) climbed by a significant 12.9%, closely followed by Chainlink’s 5.5% and Avalanche’s 3.6% increase. Representatively, Bitcoin and Ether, the brokerage’s existing crypto offerings, saw less impressive growth rates of 2.1% and 1.5% respectively.
The announcement also seems to have affected the cryptocurrency ETFs. U.S. spot Solana ETFs, for instance, have accumulated approximately $1.23 billion ever since their launch and drew an additional $3.6 million only this Wednesday.
Bitcoin ended the day trading at $80,020, posting an improvement of 2.1% over 24 hours and an impressive 10.4% over the week. The token had been navigating the waters between $78,294.85 and $80,793.49 before settling at $79,018 on Wednesday. However, the cryptocurrency hadn’t been able to break through that level over the last five sessions. On Thursday, Ether wrapped up the day at $2,504, marking a growth of 1.5% on the day and 8% over the week.
The Larger Cryptocurrency Market Place
A glance at the broader crypto market reveals interesting insights. The total market value of cryptocurrencies currently stands at $2.79 trillion, showing a 2.22% increase over 24 hours, supported by $99.4 billion of trading volume. Within this setting, Bitcoin continues to dominate with a significant 57.6% share.
Among the top 100 tokens, 71 are neither stablecoins nor tokenized funds or commodity tokens, with 63 of them recording daily growth. Observing the 150 largest coins shows a slight downtrend, with 16 non-stablecoin tokens decreasing in value.
Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index pointed towards ‘greed,’ with a Thursday reading of 71. This reflects an increase from Wednesday’s 65 and a significant climb from August 18’s 41.
Details of Schwab’s Announcement
According to the press release from Schwab, Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink will be integrated into Schwab Crypto accounts in the months to come. Schwab has maintained its offering of Bitcoin and Ether since its rollout in May. Joe Vietri, Head of Digital Assets at Charles Schwab, said the move aligns with the company’s commitment to provide clients access to well-known cryptocurrencies, supported by a robust ecosystem of education, tools, resources, and market insights to enable informed investing decisions.
SOL Post-Announcement Performance
Post-announcement, SOL traded within the range of $96.47 to $109.67 over 24 hours, recording a market value of $63.7 billion based on an impressive $7.43 billion volume. Coinciding with this, Chainlink ended the day at $11.89, noting a growth of 5.5% on the day and 11.7% over the past week. Similarly, Avalanche appreciated by 3.6%, reaching $7.50, demonstrating a weekly growth of 4.5%.
In conclusion, Schwab’s announcement appears to have consolidated the crypto market’s bullish trend while introducing new possibilities for diversified crypto investments.
Anticipations in the Crypto Market
The market can expect important events in the near future. A noteworthy Bitcoin options expiry on Deribit is due this Friday, and market makers speculate that the hedging related to this expiry may further fuel the uptrend. Bitcoin options worth around $6.4bn are scheduled to settle on Deribit on Friday, with a maximum pain near $69,000 and the spot hovering around 13% above it.
Lastly, the longer-term anticipation lies with the September quarterly, which is expected to have around 65% more open interest. This event coincides with the Senate’s procedural vote on the market structure bill and the Fed decision. Meanwhile, core PCE is slated to arrive this Friday, keeping market participants on their toes.
