Bitcoin pushes past $30,000 as investors look for price rally

Bitcoin peaked at $30,438 in Asian trade and was last 2% higher at $30,262. It is up around 6% since the start of the month, after rising 23% in March.

The token’s rise follows Friday’s closely watched U.S. payrolls report showing that employers maintained a strong hiring pace in March, pointing to a continued resilient economy.

However, the turmoil in the banking sector triggered by last month’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has raised market expectations that the Fed is unlikely to raise interest rates much higher any longer as it looks to ease stress on the sector.

“The reason behind the broad-based rally in crypto is traders’ optimism about central banks’ monetary policy,” said Tina Teng, market analyst at CMC Markets.

“Bet on a faster Fed pivot on rate hikes have dramatically strengthened after the banking crisis in early March.”

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was near last week’s roughly eight-month high of $1,942.50. It was last 0.75% higher at $1,925.80.

Crypto investors are eagerly awaiting a major overhaul of the Ethereum blockchain this week that is set to give them access to more than $33 billion in ether currency.

The software upgrade, called Shapella, will allow market players to redeem their “deposited ether” – coins they have deposited and unlocked on the network over the past three years for interest.