Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies moved mostly higher on Wednesday, although Bitcoin held steady near a one-year high, close to $9,000.
Cryptocurrencies overall gained ground, with the total coin market capitalization at $275.98 billion at the time of writing, compared to $274.07 billion on Tuesday.
Bitcoin was flat at $8,687.2 on the Investing.com Index as of 11:38 AM ET (16:38 GMT), still not far from the high of $8,902.8 reached on Monday, its strongest level since May 2018.
After tumbling from record highs close to $20,000 reached in December 2017, the digital currency spent most of the first quarter of 2019 hovering below the $4,000 level before regaining momentum early last month.
While little fundamental news has accompanied the rally, some analysts comment that the largest cryptocurrency by market cap has received a boost from the recent escalation in trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Bitcoin functions as a hedge for Chinese investors looking to protect their capital and diversify away from the renminbi, which is trading near record lows against the dollar.
While the move towards $9,000 sparked renewed interest in Bitcoin, South Korean regulators held a pan-governmental meeting aimed at closely monitoring the country’s cryptocurrency market amid concerns of a possibly overheating market.
In other digital currency trading, XRP rose 3.8% to $0.44827, Ethereum spiked 12.4% to $271.42, while Litecoin traded up 5.6% to 116.58.