Investing.com - Bitcoin traded just shy of its all-time high on Thursday, while Ethereum remained within sight of its record-peak, as a monster rally continued amid bullish noises around the future of the cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin was at $2,776.40 on the U.S.-based GDAX exchange in New York morning hours, not far from an all-time high of $2,938.50 touched earlier this week.
Since the start of the year, the price of bitcoin has soared roughly 195%, taking the total value of the cryptocurrency in circulation to around $46 billion.
Recent gains were likely driven by soaring demand in Asia, most notably Japan, China and South Korea.
Bullishness around bitcoin has stoked appetite for other cryptocurrencies. One in particular known as Ethereum is gaining traction.
Ethereum has risen from $8.24 on January 1, to a high of $269.32 on Tuesday. This represents a whopping 2,850% increase year-to-date.
The impressive gains have sparked buying interest from traditional stock market investors, as the S&P 500 has returned only 7% since the start of the year.
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