BITCOIN (BTC/USD) CLIMBS TOWARD $4,200 AS POST-CHINA RALLY CONTINUES

Bitcoin rose against the dollar on Wednesday, extending a recent string of gains as the cryptocurrency market continued to stabilize from the China regulatory shock.

The BTC/USD exchange rate reached a 24-hour high of $4,208.24, according to Bitstamp. At press time, prices were hovering below $4,165.00.

At current values, bitcoin’s market cap is $69.5 billion, easily tops in the cryptocurrency arena. Bitcoin rival Ethereum is No. 2 with a market cap of $28.7 billion.

It has been a wild month for the cryptocurrency market. After soaring to new highs at the start of September, digital currencies shed tens of billions of dollars after Chinese regulators moved to ban initial coin offerings (ICOs), a new crowdfunding model that has taken the market by storm.

Regulatory pressures are unlikely to deter Chinese investors from getting their blockchain fix. Numerous reports suggest that mainland investors are moving their blockchain funds to neighbouring Japan, a country with far more favourable bitcoin laws.

By retaking the $4,000 level, bitcoin is demonstrating that it does not need China to be well capitalized. The coin is currently trading around $800 below its all-time high.