Risk appetite grew further in crypto markets on Friday, with the price of Bitcoin rising above $80,000 and stocks hitting new record highs, boosting the role of altcoins and blockchain infrastructure.
Solana (SOL), Chainlink , And Up by about 5%, while Near Protocol (NEAR) and Uniswap (UNI) rose by about 7% each. Internet Computer Protocol’s ICP jumped nearly 12%, giving the majors an edge.
The move comes on the heels of another strong session for equities. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.2% to a fresh record high, while the S&P 500 rose 0.85%, closing at an all-time high.
Friday’s US labor market data added a constructive backdrop. The economy added 115,000 jobs in April, more than expected by 62,000, while the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3%.
Crypto-linked equities also gained momentum, led by Coinbase (COIN). Shares of the crypto exchange rose 10% from session lows after Thursday’s earnings report showed a quarterly loss of $398 million with soft trading activity. The company’s trading platform also faced several hours-long outage due to an AWS failure on Friday morning, which was later fully resolved.
Despite the weak quarter, many Wall Street analysts focused on long-term tailwinds associated with stablecoins and crypto regulation.
That narrative gained momentum after SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said Friday that the agency is considering creating new rules around onchain trading systems, crypto custody infrastructure and blockchain-based settlement rails, as finance increasingly intersects with AI and distributed ledger technology.
Atkins also reiterated support for efforts in Congress to advance crypto market structure legislation, noting investors’ comments were seen as helpful for tokenization and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
The theme boosted gains in related equities. Bullish (BLSH), the parent company of CoinDesk, which this week announced a deeper push into tokenization, rose 6%. Digital asset infrastructure firm BitGo (BTGO) rose 10%, while Kantar Equity Partners II (CEPT), which plans to merge with BlackRock-backed tokenization firm Securitize, rose 4.3%.