CNBC's Kate Rooney reports on the bitcoin rally that's taking the cryptocurrency above $50,000. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

Bitcoin hit $50,000 on Sunday to reach a more than 3-month high, as the cryptocurrency continues to rebound.

The digital coin rose above that level around 10:40 p.m. ET on Sunday, according to data from Coin Metrics. It last traded at $49,471.77 at 4:55 p.m. ET on Monday.

Bitcoin hit an all-time high over $64,000 in April but sold off heavily in June and July, even dipping below $30,000. One of the major reasons was renewed regulatory scrutiny from Chinese authorities which has forced bitcoin mining operations to shut down and move elsewhere.

But since mid-July, bitcoin has been on a steady rise.

In the last few days, two key announcements have been positive for the cryptocurrency space. Last week, Coinbase said it would buy $500 million in crypto on its balance sheet and allocate 10% of profits into a crypto assets portfolio.

On Monday, PayPal said it would launch its service to let people buy, hold and sell digital currencies, in the U.K.

Meanwhile, other digital coins were also higher. Ether was trading higher by about 2% at $3,330 Monday morning. Ethereum, the blockchain network powered by ether, activated a key upgrade earlier this month which helped lift the price.

Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, said there was a lot of buying around the $29,000 to $30,000 level when bitcoin was roughly at a 50% discount to April’s all-time high.

“Lots of large players took advantage of those prices,” Ayyar said, adding that bitcoin could move “to test all-time highs again.”

The value of the entire cryptocurrency market stood above $2.16 trillion on Sunday, according to data from Coinmarketcap. It crossed the $2 trillion mark for the first time since May earlier this month.

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