Bitcoin breaks above $6 000 level for first time since November

Bitcoin’s nine-day rally has pushed it back above $6 000.

The biggest cryptocurrency outperformed its closest peers again in the digital market on Thursday and has now rebounded more than 90% from its trough last December.

It’s the latest milestone as the wild ride continues for the decade-old token, which crashed last year from a peak of more than $19 000 in 2017.

“The only store of value in the space right now is bitcoin,” said Michael Novogratz, co-founder and chief executive at Galaxy Investment Partners. “It doesn’t need to change — it’s gold,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television from a conference in Las Vegas.

The token gained 2.7% to $6 060 at 9:43 am in London, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 basket of the largest digital currencies rose just 1.1%, having fallen the previous day.

Bitcoin’s nine-weekday winning streak is the longest since May 2017. It shrugged off a brief sell-off Wednesday after Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, said hackers withdrew 7 000 bitcoins worth about $40 million at the time.

Security remains one of the key obstacles to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, given the industry’s history of hacks. At a gathering Tuesday in Chicago, some of the largest traders including DRW Holdings’ Cumberland crypto unit and Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings discussed creating a blacklist of counterparties known to renege on trades or engage in nefarious activities.

“Bitcoin’s long-term technical profiles continue to point to a new up cycle,” said Fundstrat Global Advisors technical strategist Rob Sluymer in a note May 8. He reckons the digital asset is continuing to rebound from support at its 200-week moving average, after telling investors last week to buy.

© 2019 Bloomberg L.P