Bitcoin Crosses the $21,000 Mark, Shattering a Historic Line of Resistance and Closing The FTX Gap

Bitcoin has tested the $21,000 level, erasing the damage done to BTC's price by suspected fraudster and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The leading cryptocurrency is up 11% in the previous 24 hours and is currently trading at $20,975 at the time of publication.

The emergence of Bitcoin has spurred a sweeping spike in the total crypto markets. Ethereum is currently trading at $1,548, a 6% increase in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin sped past the $20,000 milestone in a matter of minutes, a historic and psychologically significant price landmark.

That figure represents the virtual peak of BTC's 2017 bull run, and Bitcoin's fall below that previous all-time high in November was unprecedented.

The crash was precipitated by the collapse of Bankman-crypto Fried's exchange FTX, which was accused of criminal misappropriation of customer cash.

Authorities now accuse Bankman-Fried of executing one of the largest financial scams in US history.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 115 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, commodities fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to violate U.S. campaign finance laws.