News of the first approvals of Bitcoin futures ETFs in the US also likely buoyed the price of Bitcoin
Bitcoin price rose to an average of $60,018 across major trading platforms, with the top cryptocurrency by market cap hitting its highest price level in six months.
The leading digital asset pushed past key resistance around $59,800 during the early trading session on Friday, amid increased buying anchored on news that the US SEC would finally approve the first Bitcoin (BTC) futures ETF in the US.
October has seen the BTC/USD pair notch up 34.4% in gains to erase September's 8% losses, with on-chain data analysis provider Glassnode noting that Bitcoin's move to $60,000 put 99.02% of all BTC wallets in profit.
With #Bitcoin attacking $60k once again, only 0.98% of the circulating supply was last spent at higher prices.
Owners of this 185,816 $BTC HODLed throughout all the volatility, the ups, and the downs of the last 6 months.
99.02% of all $BTC supply is now in profit. pic.twitter.com/B7C8QUX5r3
— glassnode (@glassnode) October 15, 2021
Positive news buoy Bitcoin price
Bitcoin's run to highs above $60,000 on Friday comes amid a confluence of positive news in October. After sliding to lows of $40,000 at the end of September, Bitcoin price began a series of higher moves as whales exploited the dip to accumulate positions.
Comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and SEC Chair Gary Gensler that the United States wasn't looking to mirror China's crackdown on crypto also worked in the bulls' favour.
Cathie Wood, whose ARK Invest has filed a proposal for a Bitcoin futures ETF, says institutions could push Bitcoin price tenfold to reach $500,000. According to the investor, an allocation of just 5% from institutions across the globe would be enough to accelerate BTC's value towards the half a million mark.
While Bitcoin's price has since retreated below the $60,000 mark, it remains in a positive trajectory with intraday gains currently around 3%.
According to data from CoinGecko, BTC is changing hands around $59,320 as of writing, which puts the cryptocurrency's current value about 8% off its all-time high of $64,805 recorded on 14 April 2021.