Investing.com– Bitcoin rose to a three-week high on Friday and was headed for a robust week as risk appetite was whetted by a significant interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

While the world’s largest cryptocurrency initially saw a mixed reaction to the rate cut, it eventually detected a bullish trend in other risk-on markets, particularly stocks. Broader cryptocurrency prices rose on Friday and were also poised for weekly gains.

rose more than 1% to $63,514.0 at 08:21 ET (12:21 GMT) — its highest level since mid-August.

Bitcoin Headed for Weekly Gain

Bitcoin is up about 6% this week and heading into its second week in positive territory.

Sentiment towards cryptocurrency markets has improved thanks to , as lower interest rates free up more liquidity that can then be allocated to speculative assets.

The Fed’s rate cut marks the start of a monetary easing cycle that analysts estimate could lower interest rates by as much as 125 basis points by the end of the year.

However, broader gains in cryptocurrency and broader risk-on markets were still restricted by comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said the Federal Reserve’s neutral interest rate would be higher than in the past.

His comments raised doubts about how low interest rates will go.

The Fed’s excessive spending cuts have also raised some concerns about the state of the economy and whether growth will ponderous in the coming months.

Low interest rates were a key driver of the cryptocurrency rally in 2021, although the sector has since seen an extended decline in retail interest. Spot Bitcoin ETFs provided restricted growth in trading volumes earlier this year.

Bitcoin has remained in a narrow price range for most of this year.

Cryptocurrency Price Today: Altcoins Up, But Mixed Week Ahead

Broader cryptocurrency prices rose in tandem with Bitcoin, although altcoins were set for a mixed weekly performance. Recent capital flows into cryptocurrencies have largely been directed toward Bitcoin and Ether, with the former largely maintaining its market dominance.

The world’s No. 2 cryptocurrency rose 4.8% to $2,554.74, having gained 5.6% this week.

and rose 0% to 7%, with the biggest gain this week being 10%. The rest were poised for flat or low weekly results.

Among meme tokens, it rose 1% and is up 0.9% this week.

‘Satoshi-era’ Bitcoin Wallets Transfer BTC After 15 Years

Hundreds of bitcoins mined in the early days of the network were moved Friday, marking one of the few times that so-called “Satoshi era” bitcoin has been energetic. The period refers to when bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, was still participating in online forums, roughly between tardy 2009 and 2011.

On-chain tracker Whale Alerts flagged the movement of over 250 BTC, valued at almost $16 million at current prices, in European morning hours. The transactions, which took place within an hour, included batches of 50 BTC being moved to up-to-date wallets.

It is unclear whether the wallets belong to the same person or entity. So far, none of the newly transferred BTC have been sent to a cryptocurrency exchange.

Blockchain data reveals that these bitcoins were received as a block reward in 2009, just months after the network launched, and remained inactive until recent transactions.

Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.