The euro exchange rate leveled off at $ 1.16 on Friday. In the afternoon, the common currency was barely changed at $ 1.1597. The smoldering fears of inflation gave Bitcoin a lot of momentum at the end of the week. The largest and oldest cyber currency cracked the $ 60,000 mark for the first time since mid-April, with a peak of 4.6 percent. The all-time high is just under $ 65,000. “Investors may see better inflation protection in digital gold than in physical gold,” the analysts at LBBW write in a comment. In this month alone, Bitcoin has gained around 40 percent in value. Gold rose by 2.6 percent in the same period.
According to analyst Timo Emden from Emden Research, the drivers of the latest Bitcoin rally are also speculations about the approval of the first exchange-traded fund based on futures contracts in the USA. According to Bloomberg, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is ready to allow trading in the first US Bitcoin futures ETFs from next week. “The approval of an exchange-traded fund on American land would be an accolade for Bitcoin and Co,” said Emden. With that, cryptocurrencies might finally have arrived in the mainstream.
Oil prices continued to rise at the end of the week. The price for the North Sea variety Brent climbed by up to 1.3 percent to 85.10 dollars per barrel, marking the highest level in more than three years. The US oil WTI hit a fresh seven-year high at $ 82.49 a barrel. In the course of the economic recovery, coal and gas prices have also risen significantly, making oil more attractive as a fuel for generating electricity and driving up crude oil prices.