The price of bitcoin rose to $26,533 on Tuesday, its highest level in the past 9 months, after four straight days of gains in which it appeared to benefit from the chaos created in global markets after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Reuters reported.

By Tuesday, the price of bitcoin was up 10%, reaching its highest level since last June. The world’s largest cryptocurrency gained 7.6% on Sunday and 9.1% on Monday.

Bitcoin’s resurgence began earlier this year after a spectacular crash in 2022, but the cryptocurrency’s price plummeted again in early March, when it lost much of its gains since January.

Retail investors, many of whom are staunch Wall Street stalwarts and staunch supporters of cryptocurrency, now seem very buoyed by last Friday’s spectacular collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, which dumped large sums into the cryptocurrency market.

Bitcoin’s gains in recent days are even sweeter for cryptocurrency advocates, who have argued for years that they are a viable alternative to traditional banking.

Other cryptocurrencies made comparable gains, with the market pulled higher as usual by Bitcoin’s uptrend.

Turbulence in the US banking system

US President Joe Biden came out in person on Monday to try to calm the markets, but the assurances he gave did not stop the fall in the stock market of many US banks.

Financial ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday put First Republic Bank and five other regional U.S. banks on watch for a possible downgrade, the latest sign of concern about the financial health of U.S. banks since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

The rating agency raised concerns about these banks’ reliance on uninsured deposits for funding, as well as potential losses from their asset portfolios.

Moody’s decision came after US bank stocks tumbled, even as the government stepped in to rescue SVB depositors and announced a new credit line to support bank funding and prevent another panic among depositors. For example, First Republic fell 62% on Monday, while Western Alliance fell 47% and Comerica fell 28%.

For First Republic, a regional bank in San Francisco, Moody’s said the proportion of deposits above the federally guaranteed threshold makes the bank’s funding profile more vulnerable to possible rapid and large depositor withdrawals.

“If a bank ever faces an unexpected decline in deposits and liquidity reserves prove insufficient, the bank may be forced to sell assets, thereby crystallizing unrealized losses,” Moody’s said.