Bitcoin surges after hitting lowest level since March

Bitcoin jumped as much as eight per cent on Monday and was on course to snap five straight days of losses, though the cryptocurrency has slumped almost a fifth from its all-time high hit earlier this month.

Bitcoin was last up 6.7 per cent at $52,452 after touching its lowest since early March on Sunday. Other major coins ethereum and XRP, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, were up around five per cent and 11 per cent respectively.

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Cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Friday on concern that U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes would curb investments in digital assets, though they later recovered some of their losses.

Bitcoin has lost over 19 per cent from its April 14 record of almost US$65,000. Still, the cryptocurrency has risen over 80 per cent this year, fueled by growing adoption from mainstream investors and companies such as Tesla Inc.

(Reporting by Tom Wilson; editing by Thyagaraju Adinarayan)