Bitcoin climbs 5% above $28,000 as investors shrug off regulatory crackdowns

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Bitcoin climbed sharply Wednesday as investors shrugged off initial fears surrounding U.S. regulators' crackdowns on industry giants and became willing to take some risk.

The world's largest cryptocurrency surged 5% in the past 24 hours to as high as $28,474, according to CoinGecko data. Bitcoin has retaken the $28,000 level after dipping below it on Monday following news of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission FTC's lawsuit against Binance.

Ether, the second-biggest digital coin, rose nearly 6% to $1,816.10.

Bitcoin has been steadily rising this year after a brutal 2022 that saw collapses of major crypto exchanges and a sharp slump in prices. Investors have taken some comfort from the thought of a reversal in the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking moves, which put pressure on risk assets like stocks.

The reason for the jump Wednesday was not immediately clear. However, it comes amid a broad rise in U.S. stocks. Bitcoin has been known to follow movements in equity markets, with investors treating it like more of a traditional risk asset.

Nasdaq futures were up 100 points, or 0.9%, Wednesday morning.

U.S. regulators have sharpened their crackdown on crypto firms of late, with the CFTC suing Binance and its co-founder Changpeng Zhao for allegedly breaking trading rules by courting clients in the U.S. without authorization.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has also threatened to take legal action against Coinbase for alleged violations of securities rules.

«Broadly we are looking quite bullish here with Bitcoin reclaiming $28K and looking to target $30K next,» Vijay Ayyar, head of international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC via email Wednesday.

«In general, when price action