Bitcoin hit a 13-month high in trading over the weekend after a sluggish month that was typified by a so-called “bull exhaustion” following a steady rise since March.

The cryptocurrency peaked at $9374.87 at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Sunday, its highest level since May 8, 2018. The surge through $9,000 took three weeks in coming after bitcoin teased $9,000 May 26.

The return to form for bitcoin is being attributed to multiple factors, though one cause comes as a surprise: an announcement by Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, that it would stop serving U.S. customers via its main website in September apparently because of regulatory issues.

Binance Coin, a popular stablecoin used to trade in other cryptocurrencies, was sold off heavily over the weekend as news of Binance’s departure became known. CCN said the selloff of Binance Coin directly correlates with the rise in bitcoin’s price, the theory going that those selling out of BNB were buying up bitcoin.

Although Binance may be withdrawing its main services from U.S. customers, that may only be temporary. The company said that it was launching a U.S. division but did not say when, leaving existing U.S. customers in the lurch.

Another possible driving factor behind bitcoin’s rise is the hype around Facebook Inc.’s forthcoming cryptocurrency. Launching as soon as Tuesday, the cryptocurrency, with reported names that include Libra and Globalcoin, was reported June 13 to already have strong backing. Mastercard Inc., Visa Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. were all said to be on board as partners.

Some in the cryptocurrency industry argue that Facebook’s cryptocurrency will provide massive global exposure to all cryptocurrencies, driving interest in them and hence also investors. Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle Inc., a digital money consumer finance firm, said Facebook’s cryptocurrency may deliver an “inflection point” for cryptocurrencies.

Crypto market rallying (again) ahead of Libra launch, marking a massive inflection point in global adoption of cryptocurrency. BTC > $10k by June 21st, marking start of Crypto Summer.

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) June 15, 2019

Barry Silbert, the founder and chief executive of Digital Currency Group, took a similar line, calling the Facebook coin a “catalyst” for digital assets.

The launch of Facebook's cryptocurrency will go down in history as THE catalyst that propelled digital assets (including bitcoin) to mass global consumer adoption. Will be remembered as just as important — and transformative — as the launch of the Netscape browser

Buckle up

— Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) June 14, 2019

After peaking over $9,300, bitcoin declined slightly to $9.129.95 as of 10:30 p.m. EDT, up 1.5% over the last 24 hours. With the exception of Binance Coin, other cryptocurrencies saw similar price increases as overall market sentiment turned positive ahead of Facebook’s crypto announcement.

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