Investing.com-- Bitcoin pulled back on Friday after notching a new record peak of about $112,000 a day earlier due to some profit taking and whale trades, although crypto assets remained supported over U.S. regulatory cheer, particularly the advancement of the stablecoin bill.
A Wall Street Journal report on late Thursday showed that major U.S. banks were in early discussions to launch a joint stablecoin, further boosting the upbeat sentiment.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell 1.6% to $109,110.0 as of 09:43 ET (13:43 GMT).
The token surged to a record high of $111,953.6 on Thursday, but gave up some of the gains as investors booked profits at peak levels.
The current weakness was also attributed to the large transfers overnight. According to Whale Alert, top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) received transfers worth more than $670 in mere hours.
Still, Bitcoin was set for a weekly rise of about 8%, having risen almost 18% this month.
Bitcoin supported near record high on regulatory optimism
The legislation, formally titled the “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins” Act, moved forward in the U.S. Senate this week.
Investors view the bill as a pivotal step toward comprehensive crypto regulation, which could provide legal clarity and encourage broader institutional participation in the digital asset space. The bill is now likely set for a Senate floor vote.
Steady inflows into U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds also continued to underpin demand.
U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $934.7 million in net inflows on Thursday, marking their seventh straight day of gains.
BlackRock’s IBIT led the charge with $877.6 million in inflows. Total trading volume across the 12 bitcoin ETFs hit $5.39 billion, according to SoSoValue.
Top $TRUMP investors dine with the president at exclusive Gala
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia, bringing together over 200 top investors of his meme cryptocurrency, $TRUMP.
This event was part of a promotional campaign offering the top 220 holders of the $TRUMP coin an opportunity to dine with the President.
Trump’s memecoin was trading 5.6% lower on Friday.
Wall St banks weigh joint stablecoin venture – WSJ
Major U.S. banks were in early discussions to launch a joint stablecoin, aiming to counter the growing competition from the cryptocurrency industry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The talks have involved institutions tied to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), the WSJ report said.
Banks see potential to leverage stablecoins for faster, lower-cost payments, especially cross-border transactions, according to the report.
Kraken rolls out tokens that allow traders to invest in stocks
In other developments, crypto exchange Kraken announced on Thursday that it will begin offering tokenized versions of U.S. stocks, allowing investors outside the United States to gain exposure to major companies like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) with 24/7 trading access.
The digital assets, branded as xStocks, represent tokenized shares of publicly listed U.S. companies. Rather than owning the actual shares, investors will hold digital tokens that mirror the value of those securities.
The new product will be rolled out in select international markets, though Kraken did not specify which regions. According to the company, the service is currently not available for customers in the United States.
The launch of this service was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Crypto price today: most altcoins track Bitcoin’s pullback
Most altcoins followed Bitcoin’s retracement on Friday.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum fell 2.8% to $2,572.45.
World no. 3 crypto XRP lost 2.4% to $2.36.
Solana gained 0.5%, while Cardano dropped 2.3%, and Polygon slipped over 1%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin slid 3.5%.
Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report.