Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Hits $9ks, a16z Raises $500M Crypto Fund, Ethereum 2.0 Nears – newsBTC

Another week, another round ofCrypto Tidbits. Bitcoin has been one of the best-performing assets in financial markets over the past week, managing to rally as high as $9,500 over 25% higher where it started this week. Altcoins, interestingly, have underperformed the market leader, with Ethereum and XRP both gaining around 10% over the past seven days.

Cryptos strength this week comes as the stock market hasstarted to stagnate in the 2,800-2,900 point range, seemingly playing with the idea of a reversal as the economic outlook remains dismal, with a total of 30 million Americans filing for unemployment over the past month.

Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, went as far as to say that the U.S. economy is currently in its worst rut in history due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The recovery will not be V-shaped, Powell added, asserting that it may take a while for life to return to pre-virus levels due to the long-lasting effects of the shutdown of the worlds biggest economic powerhouse.

Whatever the case, analysts are still bullish on Bitcoin.

Roch Rosenblum, the co-head of trading at GSR, remarked to Bloomberg that the ongoing BTC rally is predicated on the macroeconomic environment:

This latest run past$8,000is as much about positive macro sentiment as it is about the upcoming halving. Were starting to have a lot more certainty, as more countries begin to share their plans to reopen the economy in May.

Chart from Coin360.io

This optimism was echoed by Zac Prince, a co-founder of crypto startup BlockFi, who said that the current market dynamics are driving a bolstered interest [for] digital currency. These dynamics he was referencing was the Federal Reserves commitment to money printing and the growth in stablecoins.

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Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin Hits $9ks, a16z Raises $500M Crypto Fund, Ethereum 2.0 Nears - newsBTC