Bitcoin breaks above $23,000 at the highest since last September

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Bitcoin BTCUSD, +3.94%, rose above $23,000 on Saturday, its highest level since September, as the cryptocurrency market recovered ground in early 2023.

The rally came despite news on Thursday that Genesis Global Capital had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Genesis is owned by Digital Currency Group. The company has been caught up in the fallout from the collapses of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital last spring and, more recently, crypto exchange FTX.

See also: Bitcoin just recovered from the FTX implosion. Could a Genesis bankruptcy push it to a new low?

Bitcoin is up 12% in the past seven days and 35% for the year. Ether ETHE, +8.84% jumped 13% over the past week and 38% since December 31.

Crypto-related stocks also benefited from Friday’s rally: Exchange Coinbase COIN, +11.61% rose while bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings MARA, +9.95% also surged.

Some traders, however, were skeptical of the rally.

Bitcoin appears to be trading with the Nasdaq and risky assets again, after the past few months of decoupling, Sylvia Jablonski, CEO and chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs, told CNBC on Friday.

This is good news for crypto investors in that if inflation drops and the Fed is closer to the end than the start of economic tightening, risky assets will get a breath of fresh air and attract maybe investors.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a Friday note that if more Federal Reserve interest rate hikes occur beyond the Fed’s March meeting, risky assets within the meaning broad, including crypto, could be vulnerable to major selling pressure.

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