Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has jumped 6.6 percent, pushing prices above $6,600 for the first time in weeks. Just after Tuesday’s close, the cryptocurrency leapt $428 over the course of 20 minutes to cross the threshold for the first time since July 24, according to CoinDesk price data.
Bitcoin was last seen trading at $6,750, marking roughly a 6.6 percent increase since the day’s open.
At press time, bitcoin is gaining momentum, having stalled briefly at around $6,750 before crossing $6,800. Indeed, the spike in price could be attributed to investor sentiment in lieu of the fresh bitcoin ETF proposals, set to be decided upon on later this week.
The decision could be a defining moment for cryptocurrency in 2018, whereby a denial sends the price lower, while an approval brings additional liquidity from institutional investors. Either way, the total market rose by a total of $11 billion in one hour as a large injection of capital entered the market seeking bitcoin amidst the move. At press time, the total value of all cryptocurrencies was $221 billion, CoinMarketCap data shows.
Last week, bitcoin and its second and third-largest counterparts, ether and XRP, fell sharply. Analysts at the time said the rout was driven by an SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) decision to postpone a decision on a proposed bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund). Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, was up 1.5 percent at a price of $286.20 at 11:20 a.m. London time. XRP, which is associated with blockchain firm Ripple, was up 2 percent at a price of 34 cents, according to CoinDesk.
Separately on Wednesday, cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX said it suffered a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack, where hackers force a site offline. Earlier during the day, the firm said it was set to undergo “scheduled maintenance.” Some media outlets reported the shutdown could have been behind the price spike for bitcoin.
Source Coindesk