Bitcoin breaks through $55,000 as risk appetite revives

Bitcoin extended this week’s advance, breaking through $55,000 and stirring speculation the largest cryptocurrency could test the record it set last month.

The token rose as much as 2.8 per cent on Wednesday and was trading at about $55,600 as of 9:23 a.m. in Hong Kong. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index jumped to a two-week high amid a more general improvement in investor sentiment after U.S. stocks surged on Tuesday.

“It wouldn’t shock to see the price make an assault on the February high of $58,350,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd., wrote in a note.