Bitcoin
continued its gentle rise on Wednesday as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — pivotal in issuing mortgages to U.S. homeowners — were ordered by the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to prepare to accept cryptocurrencies as part of applicants’ assets.
Back above $107,000, the top cryptocurrency is up 2.2% in the last 24 hours, outperforming the CoinDesk 20’s 0.5% advance. Bitcoin Cash
was a notable outperformer, rising 7.4%.
Alongside, BTC’s dominance keeps increasing, now with almost 66% of the total crypto market value held in Bitcoin, up from 39% in November 2023.
Today’s movement may be partly due to the FHFA Director sharing on social media that borrowers could soon leverage their crypto holdings for loan purposes.
“This is important on two levels,” said Strive CEO Matt Cole. “[It] makes it easier for Bitcoin holders to purchase a house without selling. [And] the U.S. government is taking Bitcoin risk on its own book.”
The ceasefire secured between Israel and Iran may also be boosting Bitcoin’s price, despite its reputation as a potential safe haven asset. “Gold thrives in times of war, while Bitcoin prefers peace,” stated Charlie Morris, founder of ByteTree. “Gold peaked ahead of hostilities in the Middle East, while Bitcoin dropped. Once military actions seemed contained, Bitcoin rallied, and gold fell back.”
Crypto stocks have remained subdued, with exceptions like bitcoin miner CleanSpark, up 6.7%, while fellow miner CoreWeave slid by the same amount. Circle also declined another 11% today and is down about 33% since peaking near $300 per share on Monday. Currently, it stands at $198.62, still over six times its IPO price of $31.
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