Bitcoin prices entered rangebound trading today after soaring to their highest level in over a month.
Earlier in the session, the digital currency’s price climbed roughly 3%, peaking at an average of $1,054.73 – the highest since 5th January, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
The price rally came as traders responded to a recent uptick in market sentiment and overnight reports that the People’s Bank of China’s foreign exchange reserves had declined.
Following this ascent, bitcoin prices pulled back somewhat, falling slightly lower to $1,046.24 by 15:30 UTC, a less than 1% decline from the daily high, BPI data shows. The digital currency’s price began to rise once again over the next few hours, increasing by 0.3% to $1,049.83 by 17:45 UTC.
These modest fluctuations continued over the next several hours, with bitcoin prices dropping 0.2% to $1,047.46 at 19:30 UTC and then appreciating 0.3% to $1,050.67 by 21:00 UTC.
At press time, the average price of bitcoin is $1,051.75, according to the BPI.
The relative lack of volatility that bitcoin prices saw during the latter part of today’s session may be the latest sign that the digital currency is experiencing a new trend of more modest price fluctuations.
This reduced volatility has become more apparent since major Chinese exchanges BTCC, OKCoin and Huobi opted to eliminate margin trading and begin charging trading fees.
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