Investor optimism rises as broader trading approval in the US is expected to increase demand.
The cryptocurrency is well below its 2020 peak near US$69,000, but the recent rally shows a recovery from industry turmoil.
The cryptocurrency has enjoyed a strong run in recent months, fuelled by expectations US lawmakers would allow the creation of exchange-traded funds that track the price and let the public invest in crypto without directly purchasing it. That advance saw it hit as much as US$50,328, according to Bloomberg data, its highest level since late 2021.“Enthusiast buyers bring in more enthusiast buyers pushing prices further up,” Fadi Aboualfa, of Copper Technologies, said.
FTX, the world’s second-biggest crypto exchange, dramatically went under last year, and its boss Sam Bankman-Fried faces up to 110 years in prison for what prosecutors described as “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”.