Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, Ripple's XRP, litecoin, and bitcoin cash, have suddenly leaped, with bitcoin rising almost $1,000 in just minutes.
[Update: 7:55pm EST 12/04/2019] After suddenly surging, the bitcoin price has given up almost all of its gains, dropping to around $7,200 per bitcoin.
Bitcoin climbed from $7,070 per bitcoin to $7,801 on the U.S.-based Kraken exchange, a rise of around 10%.
The bitcoin price has swung wildly over the last few months, with many pointing to low trading volumes as the reason for the increased volatility.
Bitcoin's sudden price pump comes after months of wild swings on cryptocurrency markets.
The bitcoin price jump sent the value of the world's combined cryptocurrencies back over $200 billion.
The reason behind the latest bitcoin price move was not immediately clear, although earlier today some $400 million worth of bitcoin was moved between wallets, according to a bot that tracks big trades.
The bitcoin price has previously been moved by so-called cryptocurrency whales moving large amounts of tokens and the market is more vulnerable to this when trading volumes are low.
Meanwhile, bitcoin and cryptocurrency traders and investors are hoping December will bring a so-called Santa rally, with bitcoin previously recording some of its biggest moves higher toward the end of the year.
Over the last few weeks, bitcoin and crypto heavyweights have been predicting a sudden price surge, technical data is looking positive, and recent developments suggest 2020 could be a big year for bitcoin.
The bitcoin price has been on a downward trend for months but has had a number of shortlived surges ... [+]
The bitcoin price surge from just over $7,000 per bitcoin to $7,800, meant that some $60 million worth of bets against bitcoin were liquidated in minutes on the BitMEX crypto exchange, known as a short squeeze.
