2018.02.2023:02:00UTC+00Bitcoin Climbs Nearly 100 Percent from 2018 Low

Bitcoin reached a three-week high and rallied almost 100 percent from its lowest level this year hit in early February, as its recovery continued after South Korea's financial regulator softened its stance on digital cryptocurrencies, weeks after it mulled shuttering cryptocurrency exchanges.

The digital currency traded at $11, 722.58 on the Bitstamp exchange. It last traded 3.4 percent higher at $11, 555. From this year's low of $5,920 earlier this month, bitcoin has jumped almost 100 percent.

Trading analysts cited South Korean news agency Yonhap, which reported that the governor of the Financial Supervisory Service Choe Heung-sik stating that the government will back cryptocurrency trading if “normal transactions” are executed. The report is still not verified.

South Korea has been calling for wider regulatory supervision of cryptocurrency trading as locals have entered the market despite intrinsic risks and warnings from regulators around the world of an asset bubble.

The South Korean government said that it was considering shuttering local digital currency exchanges, which threw the market in a state of chaos and pummeled bitcoin prices. Later, officials clarified an outright ban is only one of the steps being mulled and a final decision has not yet been made.

Bitcoin has been under pressure this year due to a series of global regulatory initiatives, including hacks on cryptocurrency exchanges. The most recent hack happened a few weeks ago when almost $532.9 million in virtual asset was from Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck.

Other digital currencies had mixed results. Ethereum edged down 1.3 percent at $935.02 while ripple fell 1.6 percent to $1.13 according to coinmarketcap.com.