Bitcoin climbs above US$9,000 as Facebook reports buoy sentiment

[SYDNEY] Bitcoin climbed past US$9,000 as reports that Facebook Inc is due to unveil a digital currency added to optimism that cryptocurrencies are becoming more widely adopted by mainstream finance.

The largest digital currency rose as much as 7.4 per cent from late Friday and traded at US$9,006.55 as of 8.49am Tokyo time. Rival coins also climbed: litecoin was up 5.9 per cent and ethereum rose 4.5 per cent.

Bitcoin is up more than 130 per cent in 2019 and the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index has almost doubled in value amid a slew of companies looking to deepen their offering of cryptocurrency services. Some investors have said the latest reports detailing Facebook's plans to launch a digital currency as soon as Monday are pushing people to toward bitcoin.

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