Bitcoin, Ethereum Rise Double Digits Over The Week Amid Institutional Interest

By Liam J. Kelly

Despite falling as low as $33,000 in mid-January, Bitcoin has since mounted an impressive recovery over the first week of February. 

The leading cryptocurrency is currently trading hands just over $43,000 and capping a 12% rise over the past seven days, according to data provided by CoinMarketCap. 

As the appetite for Bitcoin has renewed, so too has investor interest in the second-largest cryptocurrency: Ethereum. 

Ethereum is also enjoying a healthy rise, posting 10.3% gains over the week. It's currently trading at just over $3,060, after falling as low as $2,211 on January 24. 

Cryptocurrencies fell hard in January alongside traditional markets. 

Amid news that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to fight inflation, equities markets like the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq also dropped roughly 1% and 3.3%, respectively. 

These figures may seem minor in crypto terms, but whole percentage losses are nothing to balk at for markets as large as these two.  

Institutions turn to Bitcoin, Ethereum

The latest crypto dip also appears to have been a buying event for several institutions. 

MicroStrategy, which has become a proxy investment for Bitcoin, scooped up another 660 Bitcoin for $25 million on February 1. The company's CEO, Michael Saylor, reported that the company now holds a total of 125,051 Bitcoin, which were purchased at an average price of roughly $30,000 each. 

The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla also reported that its Bitcoin holdings hit nearly $2 billion at the end of 2021. Tesla first purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin last February, which now appears to have been a good bet. 

The final marker of recent institutional interest in cryptocurrencies comes from "Big Four" accounting firm KPMG. 

The firm's Canada branch announced yesterday that it had added both Bitcoin and Ethereum to its treasury via Gemini Crypto's custody services. 

A spokesperson for KPMG told Bloomberg that "Our investment allows us to share our journey, our experiences, our challenges with [clients and prospective clients] so that we can help them navigate the cryptoasset world."

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