© Reuters. Bitcoin retreats after surging above $4,400 level for first time

Investing.com - The digital currency Bitcoin retraced gains on Tuesday after surging above the $4,400 level for the first time in its nine-year history.

On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, was last at $4,065.7, down $176.5 or 4.41%. It earlier set a fresh all-time high of $4,430.0.

Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value so far this year and has gained around 42% in August.

The surge means that the total market cap of Bitcoin has now risen to around $67 billion.

Bitcoin has rallied to a series of record highs in recent sessions amid optimism that faster transactions times will speed up the spread of the cryptocurrency.

New software called Segregated Witness, or SegWit was successfully adopted by the blockchain supporting Bitcoin last week.

The software was developed as a solution to the cryptocurrency’s scaling problem, which led to a split or so-called ‘hard fork’ on August 1 when the blockchain supporting Bitcoin split into two, creating Bitcoin Cash.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, , Bitcoin’s closest rival in terms of market cap, was down 4.0% to $285.92.

, the newly created offshoot of Bitcoin, was down 3.47% at $287.41, while lost 5.64% to trade at 15 cents.

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