Bitcoin Back Above $18,000 for First Time Since FTX Collapse

It may feel like a lifetime ago, but Bitcoin was above $21,000 as recently as early November.

By Mat Di Salvo

Bitcoin is the largest crypto asset by market cap. Image: Shutterstock.

The price of Bitcoin is back above $18,000 for the first time since crypto exchange FTX blew up. 

At the time of writing, CoinGecko data showed the biggest cryptocurrency was trading hands for $18,115—a nearly 2% 24-hour increase. It’s up 6% in the past seven days. 

The last time Bitcoin traded for this much was on November 8—the day the FTX bombshell dropped. Since then, it’s mostly hovered between $16,000-$17,000. In early November, things were looking up for the asset, trading above $21,000 and trending upwards. Then things took a turn.b

FTX, once one of the biggest digital asset exchanges on the planet, went bankrupt last month, taking big-name crypto companies like BlockFi down with it, as well as crypto prices.

Following the news of its collapse, investors rushed to get shot of volatile assets, bringing further chaos to what was already a very volatile market this year. 

Bitcoin hit a two-year low following the news, and the market has been slow to recover as the contagion spreads to companies like Genesis, a crypto lender owned by crypto giant Digital Currency Group.

And though it’s making a comeback today, Bitcoin is still hurting from this year’s brutal bear market: In November last year, it was worth over 73% more than it is now—when it touched $69,044.

Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset, is also up today: CoinGecko data shows it’s trading for $1,335, a 5% increase in the past week. 

Other cryptocurrencies aren’t faring too well, though. Dogecoin, the ninth biggest digital asset by market cap, is down over 9% in the past week, priced at $0.09. 

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have largely followed U.S. stocks this year because they are considered riskier assets. When the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates to get inflation under control, investors have generally sold U.S. equities, as well as Bitcoin and other digital assets. 

And today is no different: the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 are up today on hopes that the Fed will likely announce that it is slowing the pace of interest-rate hikes at a meeting later today.