Bitcoin rose 1.3% to just above $82,700 during Wednesday Asian morning hours, hovering around the $83,000 mark after strong earnings from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer revived the artificial intelligence trade and sent technology stocks across Asia higher.
ZEC led gains among major cryptocurrencies, jumping 11% to about $1,260, after Zcash developers set the mainnet activation height for NU7, the network's next upgrade. The activation height is the block number at which every node switches to the new rules.
NU7 reduces the time between blocks from 75 seconds to 25 seconds, so payments confirm three times faster, and directs 60% of transaction fees into a reserve that is paid out over time. The upgrade has been running on Zcash's test network since early October.
Broader Market Follows
The rest of the market followed higher. HYPE and DOGE each gained more than 3%, XRP added nearly 3% to $1.33, and ether rose 2% to about $2,450. BNB and SOL gained between 1% and 2%, while TRX was flat, according to CoinDesk data.
Asian Stocks Surge
South Korea's Kospi jumped 3.7% and Taiwan's Taiex gained 1.4%. SpaceX rose 8% in extended trading and Super Micro jumped 16%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 1%.
Not all news on the AI buildout was positive: Australian data-center developer Nextdc crashed 40% after it cut its outlook.
Oil continued to climb. Brent rose above $110 a barrel as attacks on ships around the Strait of Hormuz threatened shipments and U.S. industry data pointed to another drop in stockpiles. The dollar firmed slightly, and Treasuries gave back some of Tuesday's gains.
Analysts See Possible End to Bear Phase
Some analysts believe the worst of bitcoin's slide may be close. Hashdex noted in an email to CoinDesk that bitcoin's bear phase had lasted 359 days as of Sept. 30, compared with 361, 377 and 411 days for the previous three since 2011. Short-term holders, the most likely sellers on a dip, now own just 16% of bitcoin's supply, the lowest share since January 2023.
The Federal Reserve meets on Oct. 27 and 28. According to Hashdex, bitcoin would need to climb back above $84,000 before then to signal renewed strength ahead of that test.
