Bitcoin prices jumped on Monday, giving a positive jolt to a digital-coin market that had lost about half of its value since early May. The largest cryptocurrency climbed 7.3% to $6,328 from Friday, heading to its biggest one-day increase since April, according to composite prices compiled by Bloomberg at 7:04 am in New York. The token’s largest peers, Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin, climbed between 5% and 9%. The bounce began during weekend trading.
The positive start to July follows a selloff in June, when crypto investors parsed a flood of comments from policy makers across the globe, looking for any evidence they may crack down on peer-to-peer money. The decentralized nature of digital coins means optimism can swell across jurisdictions when just one regulator moves toward providing a safe home for international trading.
At present, BTC is priced at $6,619 on Bitfinex, representing a 24-hour increase of five percent. The rally extended a recovery that began last week, shortly after the BTC price fell to a year-to-date low of $5,780.
Bitcoin has sustained its strong start to the month and quarter, likely buoyed by investor optimism that more positive developments can arise in this latter half of the year. Many still predict that BTC price could recover to the $20,000 highs before 2018 ends, with some even projecting that it could reach $50,000.