According to CoinDesk, the price of bitcoin increased by 2% on Friday afternoon, reaching over $25,900, following the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) approval of a favorable accounting treatment for companies holding crypto on their balance sheets. Additionally, ARK Invest submitted paperwork for a spot ether ETF. However, the rally was short-lived, with bitcoin returning to just below $25,700, roughly its level 24 hours prior. Ether followed a similar price trajectory and is also flat at $1,630. The broader CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) has underperformed, decreasing by 0.3% over the past day.
Crypto faced pressure on Friday morning after the ISM Services Index for August came in stronger than expected at 54.5, up from 52.7 previously and ahead of economist forecasts for 52.5. This news confirmed that the U.S. economy continues to expand, reducing the need for the Federal Reserve to consider easing monetary policy. As a result, interest rates increased, and the price of bitcoin dropped below $25,400.
Later on Friday, the FASB approved a rule stating that public and private companies with crypto on their balance sheets must use fair-value accounting when reporting holdings. Currently, companies have to mark crypto holdings at the lowest value they reached during a quarter, which some, including MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor, consider an obstacle to corporate adoption. While the ETF focus has primarily been on the numerous applications to launch a spot bitcoin fund, ether took center stage as Cathie Wood's ARK Invest and 21Shares filed paperwork to bring the first spot ether ETF to the U.S. market. Following the FASB news, both bitcoin and ether experienced a sharp increase, but quickly lost a portion of those gains, with both remaining relatively unchanged for the day as of press time.
