Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were higher on Tuesday as Bitcoin rallied to $3,500, just one-year after reaching nearly $20,000.
Bitcoin rose 3.5% to $3,539.60 on the Investing.com Index, as of 9:07 AM ET (14:07 GMT).
Still, Bitcoin is down nearly 75% since its all-time high a year ago. Digital coins have fallen dramatically in recent weeks as traders worry about increased regulatory scrutiny and volatility.
Cryptocurrencies overall were higher, with the total coin market capitalization at $112 billion at the time of writing, compared with $108 billion on Monday.
Ethereum, or Ether, increased 5% to $94.66 and Litecoin was at $29.20, up 3.9%, while XRP jumped 12% to $0.33607.
Despite long-term fall in crypto prices, blockchain appears to be thriving. Job opportunities in the sector are booming, with 33% more posted in 2018 than in the previous year, according to LinkedIn’s 2018 Emerging Jobs Report.
“It’s no surprise that we’re seeing an explosion of machine learning roles and continuing growth of data science roles ... It also may not shock you that Blockchain Developer is topping the list following this year’s surge in interest around blockchain and cryptocurrency,” the report states.
In other news, China is creating its own digital currency. The People’s Bank of China has registered 78 virtual currency patents since 2016, Bloomberg reported. The central bank has also been hiring developers and economists for its Digital Currency Institute, which was created to issue a blockchain-based coin. The government also wants to not only track transactions of its citizens, but also will force banks to share data on borrowers before authorizing any transactions, according to Bloomberg. The central bank would also be able to prohibit any financial businesses from dealing with blacklisted companies, according to the patents reviewed by Bloomberg.