Bitcoin Surges, Other Cryptocurrencies Gain As Coin Market Recovers After Tuesday’s Blow

Bitcoin clawed its way above $30,000 on Wednesday, after dipping below the mark following a major sell-off of the coin and other cryptocurrencies a day earlier.

According to Coin Metrics, Bitcoin’s price increased 7.74% in 24 hours to $32,044 at 12:21 a.m. EDT on Wednesday.

Other cryptocurrencies also recovered, including Ethereum, which was up 20.39%, and XRP, which increased 7.94% in the same timeframe. Dogecoin also saw a rebound of 18.08%.

Tuesday was the first time that Bitcoin fell below the $30,000 mark since June 22, after enjoying a high of nearly $65,000 in mid-April.

According to Forbes, the drop in currency price came after a cease-and-desist letter was sent to crypto lending firm BlockFi, ordering it to halt all interest-bearing accounts from the New Jersey attorney general, as reported by CNBC.

At the time of the decline in Bitcoin and other currency price drops, the market had speculated that uneasiness about the COVID pandemic and a hit to the economic recovery may have been to blame. However, the reason for the currencies’ volatility at the time was unclear.

Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia-Pacific at cryptocurrency exchange Luno told CNBC, “In general, there are lot of macro factors weighing down on risk-on assets at the moment — inflation worries, COVID, and with crypto we’ve got more specific worries such as much more regulatory oversight.”

Several global crackdowns on cryptocurrencies have been driving the price of currencies down in recent months, especially in China, while crypto exchange Binance is also under intense pressure from global regulators.