CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,119.85 +1.91%
Bitcoin (BTC): $68,334.71 -0.07%
Ether (ETH): $2,708.13 +2.27%
S&P 500: 5,864.67 +0.4%
Gold: $2,735.45 +0.51%
Nikkei 225: 38,954.60 -0.07%

Bitcoin rose above $69,000 at the start of the Asian morning before retreating slightly to trade around $68,350. BTC's jump led to higher prices throughout the rest of the crypto market, with SOL rising nearly 5% to $166.50. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20, is 1.9% higher in the last 24 hours. Traders' attention is increasingly turning to the U.S. election, now barely two weeks away, with the pro-crypto candidate Donald Trump heavily favored on predictions site Polymarket. Bitcoin is also expected to be aided by macroeconomic factors in Japan and China, according to Singapore-based QCP Capital.

ApeCoin (APE), the Bored Ape Yacht Club-affiliated ERC-20 cryptocurrency used for governance and transactions in the ApeCoin ecosystem, has doubled in value over the weekend, topping $1.5 for the first time since April, according to CoinDesk data. The rally comes as the ApeCoin team debuted the highly anticipated blockchain network ApeChain Sunday. The ApeChain bridges also went live on Sunday, allowing users to transfer their tokens to ApeChain and automatically earn a staking yield on APE, ETH and stablecoins. The decision to bring native staking yield to APE likely galvanized investor interest in the token, according to Markus Thielen, head of 10x Research.

London-based pensions giant Legal & General is plotting a route into tokenization, which has become popular among traditional finance firms. The tokenization narrative accelerated after the arrival of BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, on the scene with its BUIDL fund on the Ethereum blockchain. Others are available from Franklin Templeton, State Street and Abrdn. “We are evaluating ways to make the Legal & General Investment Management Liquidity funds available in tokenized format,” said Ed Wicks, global head of trading at Legal & General Investment Management. “Digitization of the funds industry is key to improving efficiency, reducing cost and making a broad range of investment solutions available to a wider range of investors. We look forward to continued progress in this space."

A bitcoin indicator that warned of seller exhaustion in early September has flipped bullish, bolstering the case for a move above $70,000.

The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram, a technical analysis indicator used to gauge trend strength and changes, has flipped positive on the weekly chart for the first time since April, according to charting platform TradingView.

The MACD is calculated by subtracting bitcoin's average price level during the past 26 periods (weeks in this case) from the average over the past 12 weeks. The signal line is then calculated as a nine-week average of the MACD and the difference between the MACD and signal lines is plotted as a histogram.

It's one of the widely tracked indicators out there, and how it moved relative to the cryptocurrency's price in the first half of September signaled downtrend exhaustion.

The MACD's latest bullish signal follows a similar flash from the "line break chart" last week and suggests that bulls might finally succeed in establishing a foothold above the $70,000 mark, having failed to do so several times since the first quarter.

- Omkar Godbole