Bitcoin is making a big comeback
Bitcoin is making a big comeback, it trades up 9.8% at $2,563 a coin.
Friday's gain follows a wild day on Thursday, which saw the cryptocurrency ultimately put in its 27th gain in the past 30 sessions. Bitcoin climbed above $2,500, $2,600, and $2,700 before putting in a record high of $2,799. But then the bottom dropped out, and bitcoin plunged to a low of $2,200 before recouping some of those losses and finishing the day with a small gain.
The cryptocurrency climbed had climbed much as 26% following Wednesday's announcement that the Digital Currency Group, representing 56 companies in 21 countries, reached a scaling agreement at the Consensus 2017 conference in New York.
It has been on fire the last two months, gaining nearly 140% since the beginning of April, when Japan announced bitcoin had become a legal payment method in the country. Trade has also been boosted by news that Russia's largest online retailer, Ulmart, had begun accepting bitcoin despite Russia saying it wouldn't consider the use of the cryptocurrency until 2018.
But the market is still waiting on a ruling by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether it will overturn its decision on the Winklevoss twins' bitcoin-exchange-traded fund. The SEC was accepting public comment on that decision until May 15, but it hasn't yet announced whether it will overturn its rejection of the ETF.
Bitcoin is up 169% so far this year.
