KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Bitcoin surged more than 5% in 24 hours, reaching over $68,000 for the first time since June.
- The price jump follows months of stagnation after Bitcoin halved from its October peak of $126,000.
Bitcoin’s flying today.
The price of the leading cryptocurrency is up more than 5% in the past 24 hours, breaking above $68,000—and nearing $69,000—to levels it hadn’t seen since early June.
Today’s action is a reprieve for investors who have watched the price of Bitcoin halve from its October peak of over $126,000, then move sideways for much of the year. Such a jump might have been expected around regulatory progress news, though the development long seen as the likely source of such headlines—the Clarity Act—hasn’t delivered, with Congress on its annual August recess. (The Securities and Exchange Commission did yesterday propose new rules that would allow industry startups to raise capital through token offerings.)
Some crypto watchers think Wednesday’s move was downstream of the Treasury Department’s decision to double its rate of long-term U.S. government debt repurchases to at least $4 billion from $2 billion currently.
Government bond buybacks could help stabilize markets—it soothed investors after yesterday’s bond market scare—and boost appetites for risk assets like bitcoin.
Read Investopedia’s full coverage of today’s trading here.