Investing.com -- Shares in companies with ties to the cryptocurrency industry rose in premarket U.S. trading on Friday, buoyed by the price of Bitcoin touching its highest level since May 2022.
Crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), as well as digital coin miners Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), all climbed by more than 3%.
Underpinning the gains was a jump in Bitcoin, which had added 1.81% to $38,585.4 by 06:06 ET (11:06 GMT). At one point, the world's largest digital asset had surged to $38,834 -- its highest price so far this year.
Bitcoin has soared by over 133% in 2023, as bets that the Federal Reserve will soon end its long-standing campaign of interest rate hikes bolstered risk appetite amongst investors.
Excitement around the token has also been spurred on by hopes that U.S. regulators will approve an initial batch of exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin. Several top asset managers, including BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and Invesco, have already filed applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The increase marks a rebound for Bitcoin from a sharp drop last year that was sparked in part by the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin network.