First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Nears $66K After Monster ETF Day

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CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,090.20 1.76%
Bitcoin (BTC): $65,567.06 1.8%
Ether (ETH): $2,649.73 0.83%
S&P 500: 5,745.37 0.4%
Gold: $2,666.73 -0.22%
Nikkei 225: 39,829.56 2.32%

Bitcoin closed in on a return to $66,000, climbing to its highest point since the start of August. BTC rose to over $65,900 during mid-morning in Europe, an increase of over 3% in the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin then retreated to trade just above $65,500. Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. enjoyed a monster day on Thursday, registering inflows of $365 million and bringing the weekly total to over $600 million. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, is also higher by around 1.8%, with dogecoin leading the gains. DOGE jumped around 9% to nearly $0.125 amid a surge in memecoin prices.

China's plans for a huge stimulus package lit a fire under memecoins, with both SHIB and FLOKI registering double-digit gains. Memecoin prices tend to respond positively to liquidity injections because the increased availability of cash nurtures a greater appetite for risk among traders. Memecoins are community-driven and jump when the market displays risk-on behavior. "Leading the gains are the SOL and BTC ecosystems, indicating a strong focus on meme coins as overall liquidity grows. While not nearly as explosive as meme coins on the aforementioned chains, meme coins on Ethereum, such as $PEPE and $SHIB, are also experiencing heightened interest from the market," HashKey OTC CEO Li Liang said.

TIA, the token of data-availability network Celestia, posted its best monthly gain this year, confounding traders who'd positioned for a drop in the price as the result of a $1.13 billion token unlock due next month. September's market-beating 40% surge takes place against a background of some market participants seeking downside hedges due to concerns the token unlock due Oct. 31, equivalent to 16% of its total supply, will flood the market and depress prices. However, the bias for shorts, likely stemming from the hedging activity, might have led to a short squeeze, contributing to the TIA rally. "Traders tried to sell ahead of the [unlock] event from Julyish. I'd argue the squeeze has already happened," Jake Ostovskis, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, told CoinDesk.

- Omkar Godbole