Bitcoin rallies toward US$19,000 after biggest rout since pandemic

[LONDON] Bitcoin is clawing back most of its losses from its biggest rout since March, showing a resiliency in the cryptocurrency rally that has outperformed most major asset classes in 2020.

The most-traded digital coin rose over the weekend and added another 2 per cent on Monday, reaching as high as US$18,692. That's near the US$18,945 peak closing level reached last week, before prices started tumbling. A Bloomberg gauge of the biggest cryptocurrencies is up 12 per cent from Friday.

Bitcoin's plunge drew particular attention because it began just hours after the currency failed to set a new intraday record. Strategists at JPMorgan said that while the recent tumble cleared some speculative "froth," further declines remain possible.

Recouping sharp losses is not unusual for Bitcoin. The last time it dove 10 per cent in one day, May 10, it took just four days to recover.

Bitcoin's more-than-150 per cent rally this year coincides with a steady flow of investments by institutions into the coin and into crypto infrastructure, from trading systems to custody. The latest was from Guggenheim Partners, which said in a filing Friday it might invest up to 10 per cent of its US$5.3 billion Macro Opportunities Fund in a Bitcoin trust.

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