(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin bulls are celebrating the virtues of the biggest cryptocurrency again.
The digital coin gained as much as 4 percent Friday, putting it on pace for its first back-to-back week of gains this year. The mini-rally is helping to ease the pain from the more than 50 percent loss in the first quarter that followed last year’s 1,400 percent surge.
The increase has bought the gains over the two-week period to almost 29 percent. Other crypto tokens rallied Friday, with Ripple jumping as much as 19 percent, Ethereum climbing 7.5 percent and Litecoin adding 4 percent.
As it is often with Bitcoin, traders are citing multiple reasons for the recovery.
One of the most frequent heard this week is the end of tax selling season in the U.S., meaning investors are done selling crypto to pay off outstanding balances. Others point to a squeeze against a record short position on Bitcoin. Gains may also be result of larger investors entering the market.
“Tax selling is over, larger hedge funds have entered the market with deep pockets and strong hands, all positive signs,” said John Spallanzani, a portfolio manager at Miller Value Partners, who is optimistic about the digital currency’s outlook, calling for still higher prices.
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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