Nestled in the midst of seemingly perpetual price fluctuations, Bitcoin holders received a breath of fresh air on Friday afternoon when the asset surged 2% to exceed $25,900. This unexpected upswing followed the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s unprecedented approval of an accounting treatment considered beneficial to companies with crypto on their balance sheets. At the same time, ARK Invest made a notable move by filing paperwork for a spot Ether ETF.
However, this rally proved short-lived as Bitcoin relinquished the gains it had accrued and settled at approximately $25,700, which was strikingly similar to its rate 24 hours prior – an occurrence mirrored by Ether which maintained a stagnant $1,630 value. The broader Coindesk Market Index, on the other hand, underperformed slightly, recording a 0.3% reduction over the past day.
The crypto market had dealt with its fair share of pressure on the Friday morning; the ISM Services Index for August made an unpredictable leap to a stronger than expected score of 54.5, a promising advancement from previously recorded 52.7. Confirming the steady expansion rate of the U.S. economy, this development sent interest rates on an upward trajectory and inversely affected Bitcoin, plunging its price below $25,400.
Another game-changing development unfolded when the Financial Accounting Standards Board greenlighted a rule that compels both public and private companies that possess crypto on their balance sheets to implement fair-value accounting while reporting holdings. This rule eliminates the current mandate requiring companies to mark their crypto holdings at the lowest value recorded within a quarter, a stumbling block previously identified by MicroStrategy’s Michale Saylor among others, obstructing corporate adoption.
Though the ETF spotlight has primarily centered on the myriad applications for launching a spot Bitcoin fund, Ether gleamed in glory as ARK Invest and 21Shares partnered to draft paperwork that may herald the introduction of the premier Ether ETF spot in the U.S. Triggered by this news and the FASB’s rule approval, both Bitcoin and Ether experienced a spike in their values but subsequently surrendered a significant portion of these gains, leaving both marginally altered by the day’s end.
Source: Coindesk
