Bitcoin at 9-month high following SVB, Signature Bank collapse, rose 26% just last week

With the US banking sector all shaken up with the collapse of SVB and then Signature, followed by the Credit Suisse crisis in Europe, investors are rallying back to a rather unusual instrument, one which, in the past has wiped up billions in wealth - cryptocurrencies, specifically, bitcoin.   Bitcoin climbed to a nine-month high on Monday as turmoil in the banking sector drives some investors to turn to digital assets, as the cryptocurrency built on its best week in four years. The biggest cryptocurrency rose as far as $28,567, its highest since mid-June, and was last up 0.9 per cent, amid growing expectations that central banks would slow the pace of interest rate hikes. Bitcoin rose 26 per cent last week, its best weekly gain since April 2019, and has soared some 40% in 10 days as turmoil in the banking sector rippled around the globe – culminating, so far, in UBS Group’s takeover of rival Credit Suisse Group AG over the weekend. Traditional assets such as banking stocks and bonds plummeted on Monday after UBS sealed its state-backed takeover of Credit Suisse, a deal orchestrated in an attempt to restore confidence in a battered sector. Top central banks, faced with the risk of a fast-moving loss of confidence in the stability of the financial system, moved on Sunday to bolster the flow of cash around the world. Such a global response has not been seen since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Its stunning rally is the result of the banking crisis, and as the interest rate markets prices in rate cuts in the second half of 2023,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Markets, predicting a move towards $32,000 should bitcoin hold above the key support level about $25,000. Other market players predicted that bitcoin would benefit from central bank efforts to bolster liquidity in the global financial system. It rose to a record of $69,000 in November 2021 after central banks and governments launched unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus measures. “The momentum is all driven by liquidity,” said Markus Thielson at digital asset firm Matrixport in Singapore. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.