Bitcoin price jumps waiting for Tax Day

Bitcoin surged Thursday more than 17 percent in a sudden move to above $8,000 at one point, according to trading on Coinbase.

The cryptocurrency hit a high of $8,011 on Coinbase.

Why? As ever, the causes of the cryptocurrency’s fortunes are less than clear, but some experts reckon it might have something to do with the approach of April 17, the deadline for filing taxes in the U.S. Others think it’s a function of geopolitical fears and sanctions.

The tax day theory goes like this: people needed to liquidate their bitcoin assets before the deadline in order to have enough dollars to pay their taxes; most have done this now, so goodbye sell-off.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that Bitcoin suddenly tanked at the start of this week, losing 6% of its value in just two hours and falling below $7,000.

“The selling pressure associated with tax day has subsided right now,” Ryan Taylor, the CEO of cryptocurrency software firm Dash Core told CNN. “As people get their tax returns, there may be new money entering the market.”

However, when Bitcoin suddenly shot up on Thursday, the online chatter was mostly about the White House’s military threats against Russia in Syria, its sanctions on Russia and its tariffs on China, with people speculating that Russians and Chinese might be buying into Bitcoin to quietly get their money out of those countries.

Of course, both theories could be valid. Either way, we’re still a long way off the $15,000 range (with a freak peak above $19,000) that Bitcoin enjoyed late last year before everything went south.

Once the April 17 tax deadline has passed, some cryptocurrency market watchers expect bitcoin prices can recover further, although regulatory uncertainty remains.

“After deteriorating through March, cryptocurrenices are showing early indications of improving,” Rob Sluymer, technical strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in a Thursday report.

Bitcoin “stabilized above $6,500 support over the past two weeks and is rallying through important technical resistance defined by its March downtrend,” he said, noting the next major area of resistance is near $9,000.

Other major cryptocurrencies also gained Thursday. Ethereum traded 9.5 percent higher over the last 24 hours near $463, according to Coinbase.