Bitcoin, Ether advance as Amazon share surge buoys tech stocks

The top cryptocurrencies gained on Friday as strong earnings from Amazon.com Inc. bolstered confidence in technology stocks, which digital tokens have largely tracked over the past months.

Bitcoin rose as much as 3.4% to $38,221, while Ether rallied as much as 7.1% to $2,850. Both tokens jumped in Asia’s afternoon after trading sideways for the last few days.

The big cryptocurrencies have been largely trapped in a range over the past couple of weeks. Their struggle to break out came as growth stocks and other riskier assets faltered amid investor concern about the impact of imminent Fed rate hikes and a trend toward tighter monetary policy globally.

“Although there were concerns about accelerating monetary policy, there is now a sense among many capital markets that a 50 basis point rate hike is priced in given recent movements in equity markets,” said Hayden Hughes, chief executive officer at Alpha Impact, a trading social media platform. He also cited the restoration of $320 million from the recent Wormhole hack and oversold technical levels for bolstering the mood.

The range-bound trading in recent weeks has offered some relief for crypto bulls who see it as a sign that the sharp selloff that began in November may be mostly over. The Nasdaq 100 Index, by comparison, tumbled 4.2% Thursday on dismal results from Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.

“Bitcoin continues to consolidate below the $40,000 level,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note Thursday. “Bitcoin is forming a base and considering the selloff in tech stocks crypto investors should be feeling a bit more optimistic that the bottom is in.”