Bitcoin soars past $12,500 five days after hitting $10,000

Enlarge (credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Bitcoin has risen above $12,500, its highest level in 2019. The new milestone comes just five days after bitcoin rose above $10,000.

Bitcoin’s value has risen by almost a factor of four since last December, when the price bottomed out around $3,200. Bitcoin’s price is still well below the all-time high of around $19,500 reached in December 2017.

Bitcoin’s rise is part of a broader rally in cryptocurrency markets. The price of ether, the currency of the Ethereum network, is up 11 percent over the last 24 hours to nearly $350. Bitcoin Cash, a bitcoin spinoff optimized for higher transaction volumes, is now worth more than $500 for the first time since the start of 2019.