Bitcoin touched a six-month high on Thursday, swept higher with equities and other relatively risky assets as investors gained confidence in the economic outlook and dismissed concern about regulatory scrutiny of the sector. Bitcoin has risen nearly 50% so far this year from around $16,500, where it languished in early January bruised by the collapse of major crypto exchange FTX and a sell-off in many assets caused by global central banks raising interest rates aggressively. Other than during crypto-specific events, such as regulatory changes and collapses of major industry players, larger cryptocurrencies have traded in a similar manner to other assets considered risky, especially in economically uncertain times, such as equities.