Bitcoin climbs above $18K as cryptos try to rebound from major sell-off

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Bitcoin climbed above $18,000 on Thursday as the crypto market tries to rebound from a major sell-off during the last two days.

The cryptocurrency rose to $18,200 at 4 p.m. EDT, while it traded just above $18,000 at 4.25 p.m. for a 12.5% gain.

But the price of the world’s largest crypto by market size is still hovering around its lowest since December 2020.

Ethereum, the world’s biggest altcoin, was trading at $1,330 for a massive 19.1% daily gain.

The value of the cryptocurrency market was up 10.6% to $895 billion at the time, according to data from digital asset price-tracking website, CoinMarketCap.

Some altcoins saw their prices increase 30% to 40% in the past 24 hours.

FTT, the troubled crypto exchange FTX's token, saw its price bounce 52% to $3.87 but it is still far from the $65 it saw during the past year.

The major sell-off started Tuesday when FTX asked for help from rival, Binance, because of liquidity issues, which highlighted the fragile nature of the crypto market and instigated fears of vulnerability. Binance scrapped the potential deal on Wednesday.

The US Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are investigating FTX amid financial turmoil that caused a sudden meltdown in the crypto market.

FTX’s founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried apologized to investors in a series of tweets Thursday and said the firm's priority in the future will be "radical transparency" so that all involved actors would have full information about the company's operations.

While FTX's American subsidiary, FTX.US, made an announcement later that there is a possibility of trading being suspended on its platform, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said investors should be protected more in the industry.