Bitcoin blasts through $17,000 amid wider market rally

Bitcoin blasted past $17,000 amid a wider market rally that sent crypto-related stocks and traditional markets higher. 

The biggest cryptocurrency increased 1.8% in the past 24 hours to  $17,260. Ether was up 4.7% to $1,324 at 9:45 ET, according to TradingView.

BTC/USD chart from TradingView

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq 100 was up 0.9% following the market open. 

Coinbase jumped nearly 8%, and Galaxy Digital rose almost 7%.

Coinbase chart from Trading View

Silvergate missed the rally, dropping by more than 3%. The firm last week released preliminary Q4 financials that showed $8.1 billion in withdrawals. The crypto-friendly bank also announced plans to lay off about 40% of its staff.

JPMorgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight, while Bank of America downgraded it to underperform and cut its earnings per share estimates by 90%.