By BLOOMBERG

HONG KONG • Bitcoin’s rebound continued yesterday, as the largest cryptocurrency climbed past US$8,000 (RM32,480) for the first time in two months, leading a revival among digital currencies that have been under pressure for much of the year.

Bitcoin jumped as much as 4.1% to as high as US$8,016.62 during Hong Kong trading hours, the highest since May, according to composite Bloomberg pricing. Rival tokens Ether, Litecoin and Ripple also rallied, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

With the latest gains, the total value of cryptocurrencies worldwide is again approaching US$300 billion, according to data from Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin still remains almost 60% down its peak of almost US$20,000 in December.

“We’ve been in depressed levels for the last six months, so it’s really one way from here, which is up,” said Timothy Tam, CEO with CoinFi, a cryptocurrency data analysis company, in a phone interview from Hong Kong. “The timing is always difficult to predict, but I think we’re at the start of a secular bull market.”

The fortunes of Bitcoin and other digital currencies have turned in July after a report that BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager, has formed a team to study ways to take advantage of the market and its underlying blockchain technology. Bitcoin has surged almost 30% since that news was first disclosed.

There’s also renewed optimism after Bitmain, the cryptocurrency mining rig maker, completed another funding round, Tam said. The company was reported by Caixin to have raised US$300 million to US$400 million at a valuation of about US$12 billion.

The cryptocurrency space has otherwise struggled this year, as the industry grapples with increased regulatory scrutiny around the world as well as security concerns, with hacks a persistent problem for exchanges.

Thieves made off with almost US$500 million worth of tokens from Japanese exchange Coincheck Inc in January, while most recently two Korean crypto bourses suffered cyber attacks in June.