SINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Major cryptocurrency
bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for the first time in 10
months on Tuesday, adding to its steady gains as investors
raised bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will soon end its
aggressive monetary tightening campaign.
Bitcoin peaked at $30,438 in Asian trade and was
last 2% higher at $30,262. It has gained about 6% since the
start of the month, after rising 23% in March.
The token's surge follows Friday's closely-watched U.S.
nonfarm payrolls report that showed employers maintained a
strong pace of hiring in March, pointing to a still-resilient
economy.
However, banking sector turmoil sparked by last month's
collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has raised market expectations
that the Fed is unlikely to lift interest rates much higher for
longer as it looks to ease stress on the sector.
"The reason behind the broad-based rally in crypto is
traders' optimism toward central banks' monetary policy," said
Tina Teng, markets analyst at CMC Markets.
"Bets for a sooner Fed pivot on rate hikes have been
dramatically strengthened following the bank turmoil in early
March."
Ether , the second largest cryptocurrency, stood
near last week's roughly eight-month peak of $1,942.50. It was
last 0.75% higher at $1,925.80.
Crypto investors are eagerly anticipating a major revamp to
the Ethereum blockchain this week that is set to allow them to
gain access to more than $33 billion of ether currency.
Dubbed Shapella, the software upgrade will let market
players redeem their "staked ether" - coins they have deposited
and locked up on the network over the past three years in return
for interest.
(Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Jamie
Freed)
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