Jump wrote it down bitcoin today, “as some investors have turned to digital currencies amid the banking crisis,” CNBC notes in its analysis.

Bitcoin previously surged 3.5% to $28,225 to hit $28,554.07 intraday, its highest level in nine months. Within 24 hours, the value of all bitcoins in circulation increased by about $26 billion.

The Bitcoin rally comes amid turmoil in the global banking sector caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US. While US regulators have stepped in to shore up deposits in SVB, concerns have intensified over the exposure of regional banks in the US and elsewhere.

In Europe, Swiss bank Credit Suisse has been in the spotlight since the collapse of SVB after its biggest backer, the National Bank of Saudi Arabia, said it could not provide further bailouts due to regulatory restrictions.

On Sunday, UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.2 billion) in a deal brokered in part by Swiss regulators seeking to stem the spread of the global banking crisis.

Bitcoin advocates often refer to it as “digital gold”, especially in times of international turmoil, because the currency is not correlated with other asset classes. “However, more often than not, bitcoin is traded alongside stocks.“, especially in regards to the Nasdaq ‘tech’ index,” notes CNBC, adding that “there are indications that bitcoin volatility is starting to separate from stocks at this point.”

“If you look at the history of Bitcoin and why it was created, it’s for events like this that the current system shows signs of weakness, and so having an uncorrelated asset helps.” — Vijay Aiyar, Vice President of Corporate Development. , reported CNBC on cryptocurrency exchange Luno.

“Over time, the argument that Bitcoin is an uncorrelated asset class has been discussed a lot, but we are now seeing this view potentially supported in multiple ways.”

While gold is up about 9% this year, bitcoin is up over 70%. Other cryptocurrencies today have not registered such a jump as bitcoin. The ether, for example, has not changed much.

“As the banking crisis develops, it will be interesting to watch the price of Bitcoin as more and more people see the acquisition of Bitcoin as a reasonable alternative to the current system,” Aiyar said.

Source: CNBC.