Live updates: Bitcoin climbs over $80,000 as rally accelerates at U.S. market open

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Bitcoin recovered from $75,972 overnight to just below $78,000, a third straight day of gains.

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Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the $1 trillion conglomerate he has led for 61 years. The 96-year-old, globally renowned investor announced his decision in a letter to shareholders Friday, CNBC reported.

Buffett, who famously dislikes bitcoin, will remain at Berkshire as chairman emeritus and a director on the board, the company said in a separate announcement. His son, Howard Buffett, who has not publicly stated a position on cryptocurrencies, will take his place as chairman, Berkshire said. Susan Decker will continue as lead independent director.

“Father Time always wins,” wrote Buffett in the statement. “He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead.”

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Risk assets are moving higher ahead of Friday’s U.S. market open. The Invesco QQQ ETF is up 0.5% in pre-market trading, while bitcoin has gained more than 2%, pushing above $78,000. Gold is also advancing, rising another 1% to just below $4,400.

Oil prices have fallen sharply, with WTI crude down more than 5% to below $96 a barrel. Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield stands at 4.96%. AI-related stocks are edging higher, with memory and semiconductor ETFs both posting gains.

CoinDesk parent Bullish (BLSH) and Securitize (SECZ) are up 3% and 7%, respectively, extending Thursday’s strong gains following news that the SEC granted an innovation exemption to facilitate trading in tokenised stocks.

Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) also benefited from the announcement, each gaining around 5% on Thursday. Both are up another 2% in Friday’s pre-market trading.

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Hyperliquid’s HYPE rose more than 11% to nearly $89 as of Asian morning hours Friday, the strongest move among the majors, according to CoinDesk data. Zcash’s ZEC added 8% to roughly $1,472 and Solana’s SOL 6% to just above $106.

BNB and DOGE each gained about 4%, with XRP, ether and bitcoin up 2%. TRX was the laggard at under 1%.

Bitcoin traded just below $78,000 after touching $75,972 during U.S. hours, recovering the whole of that overnight drop and marking a third consecutive day of gains. Total crypto market value rose 2% to roughly $2.66 trillion.

None of the 40 most liquid coins fell over the period, according to FxPro chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich, who said traders are “cautiously shifting their focus towards altcoins” even with the altcoin season index still subdued. NEAR led that group at 30%, followed by UNI at 26% and APT at 18%.

The move came with equities rising and a broader appetite for risk, a day after the Fed’s quarter-point hike landed without the reaction traditional markets had braced for.

Bitcoin faces the upper edge of its established trading range near $82,000. Kuptsikevich expects profit-taking into the weekend to delay any attempt at it.