Bitcoin spikes to its highest level in 2 months, leading crypto stocks higher as traders try to kick off 4th quarter rally
- Bitcoin surged to a two-month high and crypto-related stocks moved higher Monday.
- Bitcoin hovered around $28,451 early Monday, up 4% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin jumped to a nearly two-month high and crypto-linked stocks rose on Monday, with traders attempting to kick off a rally to start the final quarter of the year.
The price of bitcoin hovered at $28,451.20 around 9:45 a.m. in New York, up over 4%. Over the last five days, the token has climbed 7.49%.
Meanwhile, shares of Coinbase and Riot Platforms jumped 5.5% and 15%, respectively.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, saw heavy short liquidations on Sunday, Coindesk reported, which could have helped push the price higher. Around $94 million worth of futures contracts betting against the price of the crypto were closed out, the outlet said.
Ether, the second-largest crypto by market cap, also moved higher on Sunday to breach $1,700 for the first time in five weeks.
The total market cap of all tokens surged 3.3% over the last 24 hours to reach $1.16 trillion, per Decrypt.
Separate from the price action, the high-profile trial of Sam Bankman-Fried begins this week. The crypto wunderkind, who founded the collapsed exchange FTX, faces criminal charges including fraud and bribery.
Author Michael Lewis, who's book about Bankman-Fried "Going Infinite" also comes out Tuesday, said the exec was a "horrible manager" and didn't believe people needed to be managed. The pair met over 100 times in the reporting for the book. Legendary short-seller Jim Chanos slammed Lewis's defense of FTX. The author stated in an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday that the exchange only failed because of a bank run.
"This was literally Enron's defense," Chanos posted on X, referring to the collapsed energy firm.