Cryptocurrency markets have seen a dramatic turn-around in fortunes, as bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin experienced a sudden surge in price.

Litecoin, which is often described as the silver to bitcoin's gold, saw the biggest gains, rising by more than 30 per cent in value in the space of just a few hours.

The price rise is the most significant of 2019 and follows months of market stagnation.

Bitcoin had been trading close to a seven-week low before the unexpected reversal, which saw it gain more than $200 over the last 24 hours, with one $100 surge coming in the space of just 30 minutes.

The positive market movement will come as a relief to cryptocurrency investors, who have witnessed steadily declining prices ever since bitcoin surged close to $20,000 (£15,400) in late 2017.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins – the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash REUTERS Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters

Speaking to The Independent before the latest price surge, one cryptocurrency expert lamented the negativity in the market but hinted a spark could set it off in a positive direction once again.

"Cryptocurrency has been comparatively dull by the standards that we have become accustomed to, and for the most part caution and negativity still prevail," said David Thomas, director of Mayfair-based cryptocurrency broker GlobalBlock.

"Something needs be the catalyst to get things going again. Unfortunately, global uncertainty for a multitude of reasons is driving many to become more risk averse and so whatever that spark is, it needs to be significant."

Bitcoin gained more than $200 over the space of a few hours as cryptocurrency markets skyrocketed (CoinMarketCap)

Some analysts have even speculated that bitcoin could return above its 2017 highs, with the next major wave potentially rising as high as $65,000 if previous market patterns are used as a forecast tool.

The latest rise follows news that bitcoin's hashrate – the amount of power its network consumes to process transactions and generate new units of cryptocurrency – is at its highest level since November 2018.

This can be an indicator of subsequent price gains, though there are many factors that determine a cryptocurrency's value. A rising hash rate will also raise concerns about bitcoin's environmental impact, with its electricity consumption estimated to be more than the country of Ireland.