Bitcoin may be turning a corner after a lull that just saw it fall below $25,000 for the first time in three months.
The cryptocurrency hit a two-week high of about $26,700 on Thursday before paring back gains. The coin was trading up about 1%, at $26,500, on Thursday afternoon. The second-most popular cryptocurrency, Ethereum, was up nearly 2% to $1,600.
Bitcoin’s surge comes after investor uneasiness pushed the coin’s price below the $25,000 level earlier this week. Fears that a major crypto selloff from the FTX bankruptcy estate could depress prices pushed Bitcoin to multi-month lows. Those fears now appear to be subsiding, despite FTX receiving court approval to begin offloading its $3.4 billion crypto portfolio on Wednesday.
Crypto-related stocks also rallied on Thursday, with Bitcoin mining companies Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital notching intraday gains of 7% and 2%, respectively. U.S-based crypto exchange Coinbase also jumped just over 3%, while Bitcoin-holding Microstrategy advanced 2.6%.
The Thursday rally stands in stark contrast to a history of monthly setbacks in Septembe r for both stocks and Bitcoin. Since 2013, the cryptocurrency has only twice recorded positive monthly returns in September. Bitcoin is still down from the $30,000 level where it held mostly steady for about two months earlier this year.
