Bitcoin jumps above $41,000, challenging past week’s tight range

A sudden spike in Bitcoin on Wednesday brought the largest cryptocurrency out of the narrow range where it’s spent most of the past week.

Bitcoin jumped as much as 5.7 per cent to $41,691 before giving up some gains and trading at $40,915 at 10.43am in Hong Kong. Other tokens like Ether and Solana also enjoyed brief spikes. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the sharp gains.

Bitcoin had spent the past few days mired in the tightest trading range since October 2020, a phenomenon some market watchers ascribed to long-term holders stepping in to buy whenever the token dips.

Meanwhile, selling by short-term investors has kept Bitcoin and other digital assets from mounting sustainable gains.