Bitcoin climbed to the highest since November after breaching the US$8 000 price level. Concerns about an escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran are seen as contributing to the rally in bitcoin, which is not managed by a government.

“Bitcoin and gold are well supported due to rising tensions between the US and Iran,” said Emmanuel Goh, who runs crypto derivatives tracker Skew. “Professional investors are also back from the Christmas break and starting to deploy capital — this is called the January effect in the stock market.”

The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose as much as 7.3% to $8 128 in New York trading, the biggest one-day increase since 18 December.

Bloomberg Intelligence strategist Mike McGlone expects bitcoin to draw support this year because of its fixed supply and greater adoption.

“Volatility should continue to decline, as we expect $6 000 to mark this year’s key support and $10 000 to hold resistance,” McGlone wrote in a note on Tuesday. — Reported by Olga Kharif, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP