Investing.com – Bitcoin prices were markedly higher on Wednesday, as the popular digital sought to break out of a recent lull that has seen it trade in a narrow range.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin rose to $4,103.1, up $221.6, or 5.71%, as the popular digital currency bolstered its market cap to $67.6bn.
The sharp rise in Bitcoin comes amid comments from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Chief Executive Officer James Gorman who adopted a somewhat measured view on Bitcoin compared to his JP Morgan counterpart Jamie Dimon who earlier this month called it “a fraud”.
Gorman admitted that while he hasn’t invested in Bitcoin it is “certainly something more than just a fad”, adding that the underlying software supporting Bitcoin – Blockchain – is “interesting for the privacy protections it gives people”.
The Morgan Stanley chief did wonder, however, whether regulators would strengthen efforts to crackdown on bitcoin related activity to curb the digital currency's popularity among fraudsters.
China, so far, has been one of the more aggressive nations clamping down on Bitcoin related activity after it ordered domestic Bitcoin exchanges to cease trading by October’s end, sending shockwaves through the cryptocurrency industry.
That, however, has not deterred proponents of Bitcoin as the Chinese bitcoin exchange market only accounted for approximately 10-13% of global bitcoin trading activity so far this year.
Other cryptocurrencies followed Bitcoin’s move higher as Ethereum rose 3.01% to $299.70, Ripple added 10.91% to 0.21014 while Bitcoin Cash fell 8.14% to $458.32.