Following the pre-Christmas frenzy and sudden dip in value, Bitcoin (BTC) has made a strong recovery after the holiday. Surging back to almost $17,000 on December 27th, the overall market capitalisation in cryptocurrencies grew steadily over the two-day period and reached a high of $603bn. This recovery rate looks optimistic, after the extreme volatility of Bitcoin since it was launched on the Chicago futures markets, with an all-time high of over $20,000 followed by a subsequent 30% drop back down below $12,000.

Other currencies shared in the wild ride, with altcoins losing up to 40% percent, amounting to a total decrease of over $200bn in the market cap across non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies. From the date of the Cboe futures launch on December 17th, Bitcoin values rose rapidly, soon reaching the record high of $20,078. Even though this level was not maintained, hovering around the $16,000-17,000 mark, the week leading up to Christmas was enough to send investors into a tailspin.

The frightening peaks and troughs have offered an ideal opportunity for speculators to buy up Bitcoin at what some view as a discount, hoping for a quick recovery and a chance to make rapid profits. Other financial analysts point out that such market corrections as were experienced last week are good for the market as a whole, and are not unusual at this time of year.