Bitcoin Reclaims $40,000 On Mining Council Announcement

Bitcoin climbed back above $40,000 on Wednesday, recouping its seven-day losses as the Bitcoin Mining Council announced plans to address concerns regarding the negative environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining.

The largest cryptocurrency jumped as much as 6.5 percent to $40,904 before easing below $40,000. Smaller coins, which tend to rise and fall with bitcoin, also gained, with ether climbing over 7.5 percent to over $2,906. Names including MATIC, LINK and BNB have gained 10-14 percent.

Tweets from both Elon Musk and Michael Saylor on Monday confirmed they had a meeting concerning environmentally-friendly bitcoin mining operations. Thus, the bitcoin mining council was formed, with both business moguls spearheading the move. 

Still, bitcoin is down over 30 percent this month, and has lost over 37% from its record high of almost $65,000 hit in April. It has gained over 37 percent this year, however. Altcoins suffered sharp losses last week as bitcoin crashed. Ether fell by over 40%, registering its biggest weekly decline on record.

In other news, China's northern region of Inner Mongolia escalated a campaign against cryptocurrency mining on Tuesday, publishing draft rules to root out the business, days after Beijing vowed to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading.