Bitcoin’s value has surged over $24,000 after US measures were introduced to safeguard depositors in the wake of the closure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank (SB).
Bitcoin saw a rise of 17.12% to $24,242.02 in response to the creation of a “Bank Term Funding Program” by the Federal Reserve aimed at protecting financial institutions affected by the SVB bankruptcy.
The US Treasury Department has also confirmed that depositors with SVB and SB will have full access to their deposits from today. While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regulations provide deposit protection of up to $250,000 per depositor, per bank.
Bitcoin’s value was also driven by the expectation that the Federal Reserve will slow down on raising interest rates this month, with predictions of an increase of only 0.25% or interest rates being maintained in light of the financial crisis in the banking sector.
Investors are keeping a close eye on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) today, which will provide an indication of the direction of US interest rates ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy meeting next week.