Bitcoin has touched the $21,000 mark, testing a range that erases the damage done to BTC’s price by alleged fraudster and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
The top cryptocurrency is up 11% in the last 24-hours, trading at $20,975 at time of publishing.
Bitcoin’s rise has triggered a broad surge in the overall crypto markets. Ethereum is currently at $1,548, up 6% in the last 24-hours.
Bitcoin raced through the $20,000 mark, a historic and psychologically significant price point, in a matter of minutes.
That number is the virtual top of BTC’s 2017 bull run, and Bitcoin’s plunge below that previous all-time high in November was unprecedented.
The plunge was triggered by the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, which was allegedly engaged in criminal misuse of customer funds.
Authorities now accuse Bankman-Fried of committing one of the biggest financial frauds in US history.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 115 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate U.S. campaign finance laws.
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