In brief
- Ethereum broke past $3,600 for the first time in almost a week.
- The 40-day government shutdown is the longest in history.
- XRP and Solana were recently up about 6% apiece.
Bitcoin jumped past $106,000 for the first time in nearly a week amid multiple reports that the U.S. Senate had reached an agreement to end the 40-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value was recently up more than 4%, according to data provider CoinGecko. Other major digital assets also moved strongly into positive territory with Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization recently trading above $3,600, a more than 7% gain and XRP and Solana, the fourth- and sixth-largest coins, both climbing about 6%.
The government impasse seemed to weigh increasingly as it extended more than a month, with Bitcoin tumbling below $100,000 on several occasions for the first time since early August. BTC remains more than 15% off its record high above $126,000, set in early October. Ethereum has lost even more ground over the same period as investors veered away from risk-on assets.
Markets have been turbulent in recent weeks as investors fretted not only about the shutdown but other macroeconomic uncertainties. Over the past eight trading days, the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs have lost more than $2.1 billion in assets, while net outflows for the nine Ethereum funds have totaled $579 million.
Crypto stocks have also taken a battering, with exchange giant Coinbase plunging more than 9% last week and Bitcoin treasury Strategy falling over 8%.
As this story neared publication, Senate Democrats and Republicans had reached a deal to reopen the government, according to reports in Politico, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. The resolution of the impasse came after a group of moderate Democrats agreed to vote in favor of procedural motions that would fund the government.
Democrats had insisted on extending health subsidies that would make insurance less expensive, although the length of the government shutdown appeared to trump those concerns.
In a Myriad prediction market, users gave a more than 90% chance that the government closure will end before November 15. That figure rose from about 37% over the last 24 hours. Myriad is a unit of Dastan, Decrypt’s parent company.
Editor’s note: This story is breaking and may be updated further with additional details.
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