extended its weekly gains on Friday, briefly topping $30,000 , as confidence a spot bitcoin ETF will soon be greenlit grew and crypto investors continued weighing uncertainty in the U.S. and abroad.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 2.76% on Friday at $29,538.99, according to Coin Metrics. It ended the week with a 10.4% gain, making it its best week since June 23 when it added 17%. At one point, it climbed as high as $30,193.87. added 2.46% to trade at $1,606.42 on the day and was up 4% for the week — best week since Sept. 29, when it gained 4.4%. On Friday, Ether rose to a high of $1,630.03.

The gains come even as the benchmark briefly topped 5% for the . Higher yields historically have had a negative effect on bitcoin, but the crypto asset is benefiting from a key catalyst investors have been watching all year: the approval of what would be the first spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S. Earlier this week, JPMorgan said the Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to approve an ETF in the next few months. Mike Novogratz, whose has an ETF application with the SEC in partnership with , told CNBC he thinks

Several firms have also amended their filings in the past couple weeks to address earlier concerns by the SEC, which investors are taking as a positive sign that the agency is engaging with the firms.

Throughout the week, bitcoin has also been driven by a flight to safety.

"Fears of an escalation in the , nervousness and overall market tension are pushing bitcoin and gold higher," said Noelle Acheson, economist and author of the "Crypto is Macro Now" newsletter. "Plus, the public support for this narrative from renowned investors such as Larry Fink and doesn't hurt."

In the rest of the market, altcoins climbed after the SEC Thursday night – CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen – in its lawsuit alleging the company violated U.S. securities law.

"Many are – mistakenly, perhaps – taking the SEC's dismissal of its case against [them] as a sign that the regulatory heat will ease," Acheson said. "This is unlikely to be the case, unfortunately, as by canceling the trial scheduled for next April, the SEC can now appeal the original ruling. I don't know for sure that it will do this, but in theory it can."

Ripple's jumped 6.5%. added 3.5%, and Ethereum competitors and saw their tokens rise 6.5% and 3.7%, respectively. All ended the week in the green.

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