When compared to mid-September, Bitcoin surged beyond $22,000, reaching its highest level since then, as the overall cryptocurrency market maintained its surprise 2023 climb.

Despite the news that Genesis Global Holdco LLC, the holding company of the problematic cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late on Thursday, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading as high as $22,387, up 5.4% over the previous 24 hours. (Digital Currency Group is the owner of Genesis and CoinDesk.)

According to senior market analyst Edward Moya of foreign exchange market maker Oanda, investors have already factored in Genesis' impending issues. The company has been affected by the aftermath from the failures of the crypto exchange FTX and, more recently, the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, both of which occurred in the spring.


Following a similar trajectory, Ether (ETH) just increased to $1,640, up 5.2% from Thursday at the same time. CMI, the CoinDesk Market Index, rose 4.1%.

BTC has increased 11% over the last week and is up 34% year-to-date. ETH has increased by 12% in the last week and by 37% since December 31.

The Friday rally helped cryptocurrencies-related equities as well: bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) and exchange Coinbase (COIN) both had recent gains of 10% and 9%, respectively.

The S&P 500 index rose 1.9% as investors evaluated a rush of conflicting quarterly releases from major banks. Traditional markets also made a slight improvement.

Producer price index (PPI) data this week showed a larger-than-anticipated fall, indicating the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary hawkishness has been curbing inflation and boosting investors. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders presently predict that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will increase rates by merely 25 basis points (or 0.25 percentage point) at its February meeting, a slowdown from the 50 basis-point increases in the meeting in December.

While recent macro data, such as "a modest pullback in inflation, downwards-trending wage and employment data, and a seemingly weaker dollar," have brought on some market relief, Sheraz Ahmed, managing partner at STORM Partners, told CoinDesk that the market will be greatly affected by how the Fed manages monetary policy while balancing economic data and recession fears.

Whether prices continue to increase or decline, post-rally elation is always a wonderful sensation, but it should be handled carefully to prevent mistakes, Ahmed advised.

In a note published on Friday, Oanda's Moya warned that risky assets in general, including cryptocurrency, "may be exposed to significant selling pressure" if additional tightening continued past the March meeting.