The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen above $28,000 U.S. and reached a nine-month high as ongoing troubles in the traditional banking sector fuel a rally in cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is up 5% in the last 24-hours and currently trading at $28,350 U.S., according to data from CoinDesk.
Earlier, Bitcoin’s price hit $28,554 U.S., which was its highest level in nine months. The value of all the Bitcoin in circulation has gained $26 billion U.S. over the past 24 hours.
The rally in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies comes amid continued volatility in the global banking sector, which was sparked by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) in the U.S. a little more than a week ago.
In Europe, embattled Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CS) is being taken over by rival UBS (UBS) in a deal valued at $3.2 billion U.S.
Advocates of Bitcoin often call it “digital gold” and claim that it is a store of value, particularly in moments of market turmoil.
However, Bitcoin has typically traded in line with equities, particular technology stocks. There are signs that Bitcoin’s price is starting to decouple from stocks.
So far this year, Bitcoin’s price has surged more than 70%, outperforming all other asset classes.
