After a relatively low start to the month in the crypto market, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies has again broken $500 bln today, Feb. 17, according to CoinMarketCap. The total market cap is currently around $502 bln at press time.

Bitcoin (BTC) has stayed well above the $10,000 mark, currently trading at about $10,830 and up almost 7 percent over a 24-hour period by press time. Ethereum (ETH) is inching closer to passing the $1000 threshold, trading at $969, up almost 3 percent over a 24-hour period by press time.

Of the top ten coins listed on CoinMarketCap, only Litecoin (LTC) is in the red, down about 3 percent at press time. Earlier week Litecoin saw a surge in price following the announcement of the upcoming launch of a LTC-fiat payment service, and a planned hard fork that Litecoin creator called a “scam”. LTC is currently trading at around $227.

The steady uptick in prices may have prompted by the bullish news that an anonymous trader purchased around 41,000 Bitcoin between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, worth around $440 mln today, Marketwatch reported. The purchase reportedly brought the BTC address total up to over 96,000 BTC, or little over $1 bln.