Bitcoin (BTC) price surged on March 19 to surpass the $28,000 zone, marking a 16% increase in value in the past 7 days, according to Cointelegraph’s MarketPro data.
At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at $28,063, up 2.4% in the past 24 hours. The price touched $28,459 at its intraday high before trading at $26,877 during the day’s low.
Overall, this week Bitcoin is up over 37% against the US dollar. Bitcoin’s market cap added $194 billion by 2023, representing a 66% year-to-date increase, outperforming Wall Street banking stocks, especially as fears of a global banking crisis mount. Bitcoin is up about 65% compared to the S&P 500’s 2.5% rise and the Nasdaq’s 15% fall in 2023.
US bank ratings have fallen amid continued fears surrounding regional banks in the country following last week’s developments, including the closure of Silvergate, followed by regulators’ subsequent takeovers of Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank.
Related: Bitcoin Levels to Watch as BTC Price Sees Highest Weekly Close in 9 Months
In Europe, Credit Suisse was bought by UBS Group for nearly $2 billion earlier in the day as part of emergency plans led by Swiss authorities to preserve the country’s financial stability. As part of the agreement, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) committed to provide over $100 billion in liquidity lines to USB.
The $2 billion deal represents a significant discount below Credit Suisse’s March 17 market cap of nearly $8 billion, according to Companies Market Cap data.
An impending global banking crisis could take Bitcoin to $1 million in less than 90 days, former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan claimed on Twitter. According to Srinivasan’s forecast, a US banking crisis would trigger US dollar deflation and thus a hyperinflationary scenario leading to a Bitcoin price of $1 million. Srinivasan is betting $2 million on Twitter on his views on the future of the US economy, as well as potential impacts on Bitcoin’s value.