Bitcoin, ether rise to close week as altcoins tick higher

Crypto markets rose on Friday following a busy week in markets and a slew of crypto-related earnings. Bitcoin rose 1.8% and was trading at $20,610 at 7 a.m. ET, according to CoinGecko data. Meanwhile, ether was up 2.6% to $1,584. 

Altcoins led the charge as Ripple’s XRP shot up 8% over the past day. Meanwhile, Binance’s BNB rose 4.9%, while Cardano’s ADA and Solana’s SOL rose 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively.

Polygon’s MATIC shot above $1 over the past 24 hours — rising 14.6% to trade at $1.10. The token’s initial price increase appeared to be linked to its partnership with Instagram, announced on Wednesday.

The global crypto market cap rose by 1.8% to $1.07 trillion. 

Macro matters

Nonfarm payrolls — a measure of new jobs in the U.S. — for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Forecasts suggest nonfarm payrolls increased by 200,000, having risen by 263,000 in September. 

Attention then turns to U.S. inflation data, which will be out next Thursday. Inflation was hot in September, rising 0.4% month-on-month and 8.2% year-on-year. Additionally, Eurozone inflation hit a record high of 10.7% last week as central banks across the globe continue to grapple with rising prices.

Interest-rate hikes remain the weapon of choice when it comes to inflation, as evidenced by the Fed’s latest rate hike on Wednesday and Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments during the press conference afterward. 

Crypto earnings

Coinbase’s third-quarter earnings on Thursday showed expenses were falling. Total expenses fell to $1.1 billion from $1.8 billion in the previous quarter. However, the exchange also reported dwindling volumes of $159 billion — below estimates of $191 billion. 

Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. reported earnings after the close last night. The firm had a net loss of $14.7 million in the third quarter, while bitcoin sales volume was $1.76 billion. Block’s bitcoin gross profit fell to $37 million during the quarter, down from $41 million in the second quarter. 

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