Investing.com - Bitcoin prices rallied to new record highs of $5,874.30 on Friday, before settling slightly below this level as rumors of new regulation in China contined to support demand for the cryptocurrency.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was at $5,673.3 by 04:10 a.m. ET (08:10 GMT), up $233.3 or 4.29%.
The cryptocurrency had traded above the $5,100 threshold for the first time in its nine-year history on Thursday amid reports trading in China could resume, with more regulation.
The new measures could include new licensing and anti-money laundering regulations to be implemented by exchanges.
The news came a month after China clamped down on bitcoin-related activity, ordering domestic bitcoin exchanges to cease operations.
Analysts also believed that heavy buying of Bitcoin could be related to the upcoming "fork" that will result in the creation of "Bitcoin Gold". Holders of Bitcoin will automatically receive Bitcoin Gold.
Traders also seemed to shrug off negative news from Russia, where President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that "buyers of cryptocurrencies could be involved in unlawful activities."
Russia's central bank also said it would block websites of exchanges that are offering cryptocurrencies.
In other cryptocurrency news, Bitcoin Cash was down 0.56% to $308.99, while Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, climbed 8.46% to $328.75.
Investors are also closely monitoring Ethereum ahead of the upcoming Byzantium hard fork, the first iteration of the long-awaited Metropolis upgrade, expected on October 16.
The market cap of both Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum is well below that of Bitcoin at about $5 billion and $29 billion, respectively.