Bitcoin makes a smart comeback to rise nearly 4%

A day after falling 6 percent, bitcoin prices made a comeback on December 23 - rising nearly 4 percent.

It was quoting at $23,712.14, up 3.9 percent, at the time of writing this copy. It touched a 24-hour high of $24,020.68, and a 24-hour low of $22,384.13.

The world's largest currency has been on a bull run and recently scaled lifetime highs of $24,280. However, a new COVID-19 strain in the United Kingdom gripped financial markets the world over, sending the world's largest cryptocurrency tumbling down 6 percent on December 22.

Bitcoin was able to make a smart comeback today, as authorities brushed aside the panic triggered by the new variant which the UK scientists have named "VUI – 202012/01".

Other popular but smaller cryptocurrency Ethereum was also up by 2 percent but Ripple was quoting down over 13 percent.

According to a BBC report, the variant was first detected in September in the United Kingdom. In November, around a quarter of cases in London were linked to it. Apart from the UK, Italy is another such country where the new strain of the virus has been found.

On December 20, bitcoin rose to a fresh record high crossing the $24,000-mark for the first time. Year-to-date, the premier cryptocurrency has surged about 230 percent on the back of rising interest in the cryptocurrency from both institutional and retail investors.