Bitcoin and Ethereum, which saw a last-minute wave of volatility before the BTC halving on Friday, have since recovered from their roller coaster ride.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin's price has risen 1.6% in the past day, hovering around $66,000 after reclaiming that milestone for the first time in a week.
The cryptocurrency's block reward halving, which occurred on Friday, saw the reward paid to Bitcoin miners drop from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. Although it is usually the catalyst for upward price movement, the effect is not always immediate.
There is one thing that changed immediately after the halving: Bitcoin transaction fees. For a short period over the weekend, the average Bitcoin sending fee rose to an all-time high of $127 according to Bitinfo Charts. This is largely due to the release of Casey Rodarmor's rune protocol.
The Runes Protocol picks up where BRC-20s left off. BRC-20 is a fungible token standard, which itself uses the Ordinals protocol and was developed by a pseudonymous developer Domo. Runes is an attempt to make the process of creating fungible tokens on Bitcoin more efficient.
So where does Bitcoin go from here? Analysts at IntotheBlock, a blockchain analytics firm, say BTC currently has a strong support level — which they argue could make it more resistant to downward pressure.
“Bitcoin is currently sitting atop the main demand zone, with 1.66 million addresses purchasing it at an average price of $64,800,” they wrote. On Twitter. “This price point can act as a strong support level should the market experience further downward pressure.”
Meanwhile, ETH bounced back above $3,000 on Friday and managed to maintain this price level throughout the weekend. At the time of writing, Ethereum's price was just above $3,200. This represents a gain of 1.3% over the past 24 hours and is only 1% lower than its price this time last week.
There is likely some good news on the horizon for Ethereum and Bitcoin. Hong Kong conditionally approved spot ETFs for both assets. Companies there believe they will get the green light to start issuing shares before the end of the month. When trading begins, analysts expect it could help dispel anxiety about cryptocurrencies in the region, potentially bringing $25 billion in new liquidity to the market.
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