The price of bitcoin has shot up by almost $500 over the last 24 hours, causing a market-wide cryptocurrency resurgence that has seen ethereum, ripple and bitcoin cash surge in value by between 10 and 20 per cent.

Bitcoin's latest gains come one week after bitcoin bucked months of steadily decreasing prices by rising more than $1,000 in the space of one hour.

The world's most valuable cryptocurrency has since consolidated its gains and is now heading towards $9,000 for the first time since March. At the time of writing, bitcoin's price was $8,516, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin's turn-around in fortunes appear modest when compared to other top-performing cryptocurrencies, with ethereum rising by 10 per cent since this time yesterday and ripple shooting up by 19 per cent.

Bitcoin cash, an off-shoot from bitcoin that is now the fourth most-valuable cryptocurrency, rose by 15 per cent to take its market cap above $18 billion.

The cryptocurrency market experienced significant value gains after the price of bitcoin surged once again. (Reuters)

The latest price rise follows positive news in the cryptocurrency space in April. Last week, an Islamic scholar declared bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies halal under Sharia Law, potentially opening up the market to 1.8 billion Muslims around the world.

On Monday, IMF boss Christine Lagarde wrote a blogpost in which she detailed the benefits of bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology.

Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? Show all 2 1 /2 Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? pg-38-bitcoin-1-alamy.jpg Bitcoin exists without a central bank able to manipulate its value Alamy Bitcoin: Is the virtual currency the new gold standard? pg-38-bitcoin-2-getty.jpg Bitcoin’s technical lead Gavin Andresen Getty Images

Following last week's unprecedented gains, bitcoin analysts and experts predicted the cryptocurrency could see further gains that could take it to the levels it experienced at the end of 2017.

In December, bitcoin's price peaked at close to $20,000 following a year of remarkable gains that saw its value increase more than 20-fold.

“I believe that we will see a comeback to the height achieved at the end of 2017 this year,” Olga Feldmeier, CEO of fintech firm Smart Valor, told The Independent.

“Over the next two years I still predict we could see it reach a value of $100,000."

Renowned Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper put bitcoin's value even higher, forecasting that it would reach $250,000 by 2022.