Bitcoin Rises After a Terrible Month, But Don't Call It a Bottom

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin is headed for the biggest gain since April, providing some welcome relief to battered cryptocurrency investors -- but it may be too soon to call a bottom.

That’s the assessment of Kenetic Capital’s Jehan Chu after the largest digital token rallied on Wednesday, climbing as much as 15 percent to $4,339. It closed at $6,302 in October. Gains in Ether, Litecoin, Zcash and XRP helped propel the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index to a 16 percent increase, paring this month’s rout to 30 percent.

“What we are seeing is not yet a bottom but a short-term buying opportunity,” said Chu, managing partner at Kenetic Capital, a blockchain investment and advisory company. “Until we have broader adoption of decentralized applications, it will be hard to find a firm floor.”

One technical indicator had suggested Bitcoin was due a short-term bounce. The cryptocurrency’s relative strength index dropped to a record this month, according to Bitstamp prices that incorporate weekend trading, signaling it may have fallen too fast.

--With assistance from Matt Turner, Nancy Moran and Eddie van der Walt.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Lam in Hong Kong at elam87@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Michael Patterson, Dave Liedtka

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