Investing.com - Bitcoin was hovering close to its highest levels in a year on Thursday after a rally that has seen it rise around 140% so far this year, bringing it closer to testing the $9,000 level.
Bitcoin was at $8,747 on the Investing.com Index as of 7:10 AM ET (11:10 GMT), within striking distance of the high of $8,902.8 reached on Monday, its strongest level since May 2018.
After tumbling from record highs close to $20,000 reached in December 2017, the digital currency spent most of the first quarter of 2019 hovering below the $4,000 level before regaining momentum in early April.
While little fundamental news has accompanied the rally, some analysts comment that the largest cryptocurrency by market cap has received a boost from the recent escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
The total crypto market cap currently stands at about $280 billion, of which Bitcoin accounts for $154 billion.
In other digital currency trading, XRP rose 5% to $0.46452, Ethereum was also up 5% to $284.58, while Litecoin traded up 2% to 116.952.