Finally, Bitcoin’s weekly gains weren’t erased by stock market’s closure

For the first time in weeks, Bitcoin finally made some progress that wasn’t immediately wiped out when the stock markets closed for the weekend. 

Over the past month, Bitcoin’s consistently rose during the week, then returned to whatever price it was at the beginning of the week as soon as the stock markets closed on Friday. But this week, the price went up after the stock markets closed.

Bitcoin’s ascent started on Thursday, when it increased from around $6,600 to $7,000 in a matter of hours. When stock markets closed on Friday, Bitcoin's price didn’t drop, but instead kept climbing. It reached a high of $7,280 earlier today. (At the time of writing, its price is $7,184). 

So, why was Bitcoin unaffected by the stock market closures? Safe-haveners might argue that Bitcoin doesn't track global markets, anyway. But a more obvious answer might be because the stock market did pretty well this week—or, at least, it didn’t do as terribly as it has done in recent weeks. 

Though the economic prognosis hasn’t been this bad for 90 years, the stock market climbed for a second straight week. And in a little over three weeks, the S&P 500 has increased by 29%.

Markets might’ve rallied because of the efforts of the Federal Reserve. The Fed has injected $5 trillion into struggling money markets and cut its interest rates close to zero. 

Goldman Sachs applauded the effort. "The Fed and Congress have precluded the prospect of a complete economic collapse. Investors have been encouraged by the 'do whatever it takes' approach of the Fed,” it wrote on Monday.

So, if Bitcoin’s gains have been bruised by poor performances in the stock market in recent weeks, that wound might have been healed.