In the futures markets, bitcoin showed a net short position of -883Bitcoinrose on Friday to itshighestlevel since around mid-September, bolstered in part by seasonal factors as well as supportive comments overall from United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday.In testimony to Congress, Powell said the Fed had no intention of banning cryptocurrencies, in response to a question from House Representative Ted Budd.Some analysts also said October is typically a bullish month for digital assets, with September historically a bearish period for the sector."The digital asset market is benefiting both from the seasonality effect as well as generally positive market fundamentals," said Ulrik K.Lykke, founder of crypto assets hedge fund ARK36."Q4 has often seen strong performances and the expectation the trend will continue this year can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It is possible that we will see new all-time highs in Q4, especially that on-chain data, particularly in the case ofbitcoin, seem to indicate a potential for a strong bull market continuation."He also cited Powell's comments on Thursday as one factor forbitcoin's positive price action.The largest cryptocurrency was last up 8.55per centat $47,751.3, after hitting a high of $48,236.08.
If gains are maintained,bitcoinwould be on pace to post its largest daily percentage gain since mid-June.Smaller coins ether and XRP, which tend to move in tandem withbitcoin, were up 10.1 per centat $3,301 and 8.5 per centat $1.0326, respectively.Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities in London, also said spiking volumes on crypto derivatives exchanges was a possible driver for the moves.
Derivatives trading often influences spot prices inbitcoinmarkets.In the futures markets,bitcoinshowed a net short position of -883, the smallest since mid-August, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday showed.