Investing.com - The price of digital currency bitcoin broke through the $11,500 mark for the first time since January on Tuesday as it continues to slowly recover from a sharp selloff at the start of the month.
Bitcoin was trading at $11,278 on the Bitfinex exchange by 04:17 AM ET (09:17 AM GMT), after rising as high as $11,658 earlier.
Bitcoin’s price has been gradually climbing higher after falling to a more than two month low of $6,000 on February 6 amid a massive selloff triggered by fears over a regulatory crackdown, concerns over potential price manipulation in the market, and a hack on cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck in which over $500 million was stolen.
Despite the recovery, bitcoin’s price remains down around 20% for the year to date.
Fears over a heavy handed crackdown eased after South Korea, a key market for cryptocurrencies, indicated last week that it will allow cryptocurrency trading to continue in the country. It was welcome news for investors who had feared an outright ban.
Recent comments from U.S. financial regulators that balanced the need for regulation with consumer protection have also helped prices recover.
The regulators comments echoed those of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has said that his number one concern on bitcoin was its use in criminal activity.
Other major cryptocurrencies traded lower, with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, dipping 0.88% to $931.
The third largest cryptocurrency Ripple was down around 1.32% to $1.09.