Investing.com-- Bitcoin price jumped higher on Friday, tracking a surge in broader risk-driven markets as positive U.S. labor market helped soothe some concerns that a recession was imminent, with altcoin prices also rallying.
Bitcoin rose nearly more than 4% to $60,588.0, paring some gains after rising as far as $61,712.3.
The token was also set for mild weekly gains after an over 10% tumble in the prior week.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency recouped a bulk of its losses this week, having slumped as far as $49,000 on Monday amid a broader market rout.
Bitcoin price up as recession, rate hike fears ease
The token tracked a rally in broader markets, especially equities, as better-than-expected weekly jobless claims data fueled bets that a U.S. economic slowdown was not as imminent as initially feared.
Fears of a recession had battered risk-driven assets through last week and the first half of this week, spurred by data showing a sharp decline in nonfarm payrolls.
Less hawkish comments from Bank of Japan officials also helped risk appetite improve, after the central bank hiked interest rates and flagged more increases during a meeting last week.
BOJ officials said this week that the bank will not hike rates during periods of market volatility, helping improve sentiment. Losses in the Japanese yen also signaled a recovery in risk appetite.
Bitcoin's $100K year-end price target in focus again after rebound
Bitcoin's latest recovery has led some bullish investors to revisit their year-end target of $100,000.
The cryptocurrency's surge in the past 24 hours marked one of its most significant single-day percentage gains in recent months, leading to the liquidation of nearly $100 million in short positions on bitcoin-tracked futures, and making it the fourth-largest hit for bearish bets on bitcoin this year.
Market analysts have attributed the gains to positive sentiment in the stock market and expectations that bitcoin might follow its historical market cycles.
"Now that the Bank of Japan has indicated they will not raise interest rates further — and Jump Trading will run out of coins to sell, just like Germany did a few weeks ago — I do not see the price going much below $50,000 (other than a quick wick), perhaps ever again," Transform Ventures told CoinDesk.
The firm also noted that, regardless of the short-term outlook, the bull market is expected to follow the traditional four-year cycle, with strong gains anticipated in October and November.
"If Trump wins, a rush of new buyers could take the bitcoin price over $100,000," it noted, while also acknowledging that the months following the halving often see pullbacks, and this fifth bitcoin cycle is likely no exception. "October and November are historically strong months for bitcoin, especially in the year of the halving and the year after."
Crypto price today: XRP rally cools after SEC fine, but altcoins surge
Among broader cryptocurrency markets, XRP fell 5% after rallying sharply in the prior session as Ripple Labs, the issuer of the token, was slapped with a $125 million fine in a long-running lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
While the fine was a fraction of the reportedly $2 billion sought by the SEC, the ruling also saw Ripple slapped with an injunction requiring it to register any more security sales.
Additionally, the case did not answer the long-running regulatory question of whether crypto tokens do qualify as securities. The SEC is also expected to potentially appeal an earlier ruling that said Ripple’s XRP sales to retail investors did not qualify as security sales.
Barring XRP, broader altcoins surged in tandem with Bitcoin. World no.2 token Ether rose 5.5% to $2,627.93.
SOL slipped 1% and ADA added 1.5%, respectively, while among meme tokens, DOGE climbed 2.4%.