Crypto Surges After Powell Says It Has “Staying Power As An Asset Class”

The cryptocurrency market is rallying after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it has “staying power” and as Wall Street institutions move forward in their efforts to adopt the technology.

Bitcoin is up 8% and crossed the $30,000 mark for the first time since mid April. Ethereum’s Ether gained more than 5% to $1,877, the highest since last June, according to CoinGecko.

The market swell comes on the heels of Powell’s comments that, “crypto appears to have staying power as an asset class,” as he testified before lawmakers Wednesday.

“We see stablecoins as a form of money,” said Powell.

Powell also indicated that inflation has a “long way to go” before falling to a level of 2% but that the central bank’s policy is likely to adjust as inflation tapers down.

New Market Entrants

Amid the market surge, powerhouse firms Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Citadel Securities entered the digital asset space with non-custodial crypto exchange EDX. BlackRock submitted an application for a Bitcoin-based ETF last Thursday.

BlackRock applied to list a Bitcoin ETF, prompting other large financial institutions to also file their own petitions.

Cryptocurrencies in the top ten by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, are all gaining by at least 2%, including a more than 7% increase by Cardano’s ADA and an almost 5% gain by Solana’s SOL.