Gold Holds Near $4,030 and Bitcoin Near $81,000 as Oil Jumps 3%, While Silver Falls 1%

Oil rose about 3% on Friday, but gold barely moved. Spot gold traded at $4,032 an ounce, up $8.70 or 0.22%, while silver fell 1.07% to $54.02, according to USAGold's daily report. The report said silver's decline pushed the gold-to-silver ratio past 74 and attributed the move to concern that higher oil prices will force rate increases. Bitcoin traded at about $81,330 late on Friday in New York, roughly flat on the day and about $28,540 below its level a year ago, according to Fortune.

Retail traders are betting on the same assets through new products. Robinhood's head of futures and prediction markets told CoinDesk that bitcoin, gold and oil contracts are among the company's fastest-growing prediction markets, as customers move beyond sports.

Franklin Templeton added $150 million of fund shares to the XRP Ledger in two subscriptions on Thursday, nearly quadrupling its fund's tokens on the network, CoinDesk reported. The receiving wallet shares its authorized signers with the issuer. That detail suggests the growth reflects placement by Franklin Templeton itself rather than demand from outside investors.

Enforcement against crypto fraud continues. New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a court for a $1.37 billion judgment against the operators of the NovaTech scheme, Bitcoin Magazine reported. Two successive frauds took more than $1.1 billion from investors, and the state wants repayment with interest.