Bitcoin may be again using one of its nine lives.

The cryptocurrency experienced a price surge following the U.S. “tax day,” the deadline given by the Internal Revenue Service for tax returns to be filed.

Having bottomed out at $7,872.25 on April 17, bitcoin saw a post-tax bounce that approached $9,000 as investors seemingly returned after filing their tax returns. According to CNBC, cryptocurrency analysts believe the bear run over the last two months was caused by investors cashing out bitcoin holdings to pay taxes on last year’s massive capital gains.

“The U.S. tax day is behind us (April 17th) and since then, the overall tone in the crypto market has improved,” Tom Lee of Fundstrat Global Advisors said in a note to investors. “We believe the ‘winter’ is ending for bitcoin, as the crypto-to-fiat pressures from tax day subside, and as headline risks seem to be fading.”

Lee believes that the amount investors owe to the IRS on cryptocurrency gains may be as high as $25 billion. That said, just how many people actually pay capital gains tax on cryptocurrency returns to the IRS is questioned by some, not least the IRS.

The agency took on Coinbase Inc. in court last year and won the right to obtain customer recorded from the cryptocurrency exchange. Forbes noted that Credit Karma had seen fewer than 100 people report cryptocurrency gains out of 250,000 filers as of Friday, April 13. Moreover, the report said that if Turbo Tax, H&R Block and tax preparers saw similar low volumes of cryptocurrency reporting, bitcoin’s weakness leading up to April 17 and the subsequent rebound may be thanks to other forces.

One theory for the bounce is that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general have shifted back to more positive coverage. Bitcoinist noted that media outlets are now recommending that some cryptocurrencies are a buy. At the same time, it said, “bad news regarding exchange hacks, regulations and SEC crackdowns are clearly failing to negatively impact BTC as much as before, lending further support to the belief that a bottom was touched.”

Whatever the reason, the question now that bitcoin has seemingly turned a corner is: Will this be a new bull run, or will the cat only bounce so high this time around before dropping further?

Photo: Sean McGrath/Wikimedia Commons