Bitcoin valuation rises sharply to gain $3,400 as a result of heavy buying

ReutersDec 18, 2018 08:27:33 IST

Bitcoin rose sharply on Monday, climbing above $3,400 in a move traders ascribed to heavy buying on Japan and Hong Kong-based exchanges.

In January this year, Facebook prohibited all ads on its platform that promote cryptocurrency.

The original cryptocurrency jumped as much as 11 percent on the Bitstamp platform and was headed for its biggest daily rise since Nov. 28.

Bitcoin has fallen around 80 percent from its record high last December. In the last three months it has fallen nearly 50 percent.

In earlier news Bitcoin had slumped on 20 November to its lowest this year, tumbling as much as 10 percent to breach $4,300 and taking losses in the world’s best-known digital coin to 25 percent within a week.

Other smaller coins also skidded sharply as a broader cryptocurrency sell-off, said by traders and market makers to be rooted in heavy selling at leveraged Asian exchanges, gathered steam.

The fall followed a sudden plunge last week that shook bitcoin out of a period of relative stability, where prices had hovered around the $6,500 mark for several months.

Bitcoin sunk as far as $4,327, its lowest since October 2017. By mid-afternoon, it was trading around $4,750 on the Bitstamp exchange.