Bitcoin rises above $31,000 to highest level in more than a year to cap the week

Bitcoin broke above $31,000 Friday, building on recent gains fueled by institutions’ commitment to layering crypto into their businesses.

The largest cryptocurrency was last higher 3.5% at $31,182, according to Coin Metrics. At one point, it hit a peak of $31,412.72, its highest level since June 8, 2022.

“The long-term conviction of these financial behemoths — which include some of the most trusted names in asset management and retail investing — boosted sentiment and investor confidence when both were relatively low,” said Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “It’s a sign that the days are numbered for bad actors like Binance and FTX and that the crypto ecosystem is maturing. That’s a powerful catalyst for the industry, which has been plagued at various times by fraudsters and detractors.”

Bitcoin is up 17% on a weekly basis. Coin Metrics measures a week in crypto, which trades 24 hours a day, from the 4:00 p.m. ET stock market close one Friday to the next.

Investors have been upbeat since last Thursday when BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, filed an application for the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S. That opened the floodgates for other institutions including WisdomTree, Invesco and Valkyrie to either file for the same product or update existing filings.