Bitcoin held above $84,000 on Sunday, as the cryptocurrency neared the end of its second-best third-quarter performance ever, supported by increased spot market activity and strong institutional demand.
Bitcoin was trading at $84,626.50 as of 8:39 AM Saudi Arabia time on Sunday, up 0.84% for the day, according to Investing.com data. The cryptocurrency has gained approximately 43.5% during the third quarter, rising from around $58,500 at the beginning of July.
This would make it Bitcoin's strongest third-quarter performance since 2017, when it gained nearly 80%, according to data cited by cryptocurrency publication Bitcoin.com. Ether also rose by about 71% during the quarter, putting it on track for its best-ever third-quarter performance.
Bitcoin also weathered the expiration of massive quarterly options contracts on Friday with little disruption. Spot trading activity increased, while profit-taking remained relatively limited, supporting the cryptocurrency as September drew to a close.
Institutional adoption added another dimension to the interest, with Michael Saylor, chairman of Strategy&, calling on US banks to expand their involvement in Bitcoin.
Saylor is pushing for banks to offer Bitcoin custody services and cryptocurrency-backed loans, arguing that current capital requirements restrict broader participation. He specifically called for a review of the 1,250% risk weighting applied to the highest-risk category of cryptocurrency holdings under international banking standards.
He also called for regulators to differentiate between banks that hold Bitcoin on behalf of their clients, those that lend against these assets, and those that take positions using their own capital.
The security risks of cryptocurrencies remained a focus of attention following the $387.50 million Bitget hack.
By Saturday, the attacker had moved about $83 million of the stolen XRP currency from three holding wallets, according to CoinDesk, while about $75 million remained distributed in the original accounts.
Ripple cannot directly freeze stolen XRP, as the XRP ledger controls that allow issuers to freeze tokens do not apply to its native cryptocurrency. However, trading platforms can restrict accounts that receive stolen funds.
Bitget announced that its safety net is covering the losses and that customer balances were unaffected. Bitcoin withdrawals are scheduled to resume on September 28, followed by Ether withdrawals on September 29, and then USDT withdrawals on September 30.
With just a few days left until the end of September, Bitcoin's quarterly performance became the main focus over the weekend, after the cryptocurrency held steady at $84,000 throughout the expiration of options contracts on Friday.
Cryptocurrency prices today: Mixed performance for altcoins amid subdued trading on Sunday
Prices for the broader cryptocurrency market were mixed on Sunday, according to the latest market snapshot.
Ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 0.66% to $2,704.21.
XRP, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency, fell 2.02% to $1.5190.
Solana rose 0.49% to $121.11, while BNB edged up slightly 0.09% to $773.70.
Cardano fell 0.78% to $0.2530, while Dogecoin dropped 1.19%.
