- Bitcoin has reclaimed the $8,000 level for the first time since late May.
- It has rallied 35% off its June low.
- Watch bitcoin trade in real time here.
Bitcoin climbed back above the $8,000 mark in Asian trade this afternoon for the first time since late May.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency has now rallied by around 35% since dipping below $US5,900 at the end of June.
A short time ago, prices were holding just above $8,000 after clearing the mark at around 5pm AEST:
It follows a sharp rally last week, which some analysts said may have been driven by a short-squeeze on traders who held bearish positions against bitcoin.
Others have speculated the recent bounce may be stemming from continued interest in the space by big institutuaionl investors.
Goldman Sachs is setting up a crypto trading desk, offering clients exposure to bitcoin-related derivatives.
And Business Insider's Frank Chaparro reported that US exchange Coinbase is building out a prime brokerage platform to attract institutional capital, with the help of a $US20 billion hedge fund.
Analysis of Google Trends data also shows searches for "bitcoin etf" (exchange traded fund) in the US have spiked again in July, after interest tailed off following the height of the crypto bull market in late-2017.
Today's gains follow another push higher for bitcoin overnight, which wasn't followed by other major cryptos such as ethereum and litecoin which lost ground.
But activity in the sector has been broadly bullish in Asian trade, with most major cryptos in the green.
Here's a table of the latest price action:
