Early selling pushed bitcoin down nearly 5% to $752.46 per coin. But buyers emerged at one-month lows early on in US trade, and have been in control throughout the session. The cryptocurrency now trades up 4.7%, or $37, at $826 per coin as of 3:07 p.m. ET.
Bitcoin has had a wild start to 2017. It rallied more than 20% in the first four trading days of 2017, putting in a high of $1161.88 per coin amid massive interest from China. However, speculation began to mount last Friday that China was going to crackdown on the cryptocurrency after the People’s Bank of China warned investors to exercise caution when investing in virtual currencies.
Then on Wednesday, China announced it had begun investigating bitcoin exchanges in Beijing and Shanghai on suspicion of market manipulation, money laundering, unauthorized financing, and other issues. Selling in response to that announcement pushed bitcoin down more than 13%.