Bitcoin’s star backers, dip buyers help cryptocurrencies recover

Bitcoin regained some lost ground to trade near $40,000 on Thursday, a day after a brutal selloff on concerns over tighter regulation in China and unease over the extent of leveraged positions in the cryptocurrency world.

The biggest and most popular cryptocurrency rose 9% to a touch below $40,000, after plunging 14% on Wednesday to its lowest since late January. Smaller rival ether was up 11% at $2,700 at 0829 GMT, after its 28% tumble.

Its bounce came after prominent crypto backers such Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood and carmaker Tesla’s Elon Musk indicated their support on Wednesday. Wood said in an interview with Bloomberg that she was still sticking to her $500,000 forecast.