Bitcoin breaks $70,000 in volatile trading, hitting a new record to end the week

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The price of bitcoin jumped to a new record on Friday, breaking through $70,000 for the first time ever.

The cryptocurrency was last higher by about 2% at $69,304.84, according to Coin Metrics. At one point, however, it rose as high as $70,170.00, topping its previous record set on Tuesday. It's on pace to end the week higher by 10%.

The up move began around the time the U.S. stock market opened. With the introduction of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S., big crypto moves now tend to take place during traditional stock trading hours.

The early advance may have been driven in part by investors who were weighing the February jobs report, hopeful that a higher unemployment rate and cooler than initially reported employment growth in December and January will clear the way for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates later this year.

However, crypto trading has been especially volatile this week. After bitcoin reached a new record on Tuesday for the first time in more than two years, it quickly tumbled as much as 10%, pulling down other cryptocurrencies and crypto stocks along with it, then recovering much of those losses the next day. The bitcoin historical volatility index is at its highest level in almost a year, according to TradingView.

"Navigating old highs is notoriously tricky and the bitcoin dam doesn't tend to burst at the first time of asking," said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto exchange Nexo. "Tuesday's sharp bitcoin sell-off was healthy, necessary and a prelude to further gains. Volatility defines bitcoin bull markets and 2024 will be littered with sudden and gut-wrenching 10%-20% plunges."