Bitcoin price has continued its surge in the most recent rally that began last week and is close to ringing in the $600 milestone.

The Bitstamp Price Index (BPI) struck a high of $585 today, continuing its strong surge that began during the last days of May. Having plateaued around the $450 mark for much of the past few weeks, BPI soared from $469.40 to $500.56 on May 28th, in a rally that started the day before and one which is now nearing toward $600.

At the time of publishing, bitcoin was trading to the dollar at $584.52.

Today’s high of $585 on the BPI rang in at 07:45 UTC. The last time bitcoin was trading at such numbers was in August 2014, representing a near two-year high.

Altogether, the recent surge from May 27th has seen the cryptocurrency surge about a third of its price on the same day, when it opened trading at $452.07 on the Bitstamp Price Index.

Several theories have been put forth to explain the reasons behind the cryptocurrency’s rising tide. The most common one is that of the demand from the Chinese market as a result of the weakening yuan.

The upcoming block mining reward halving event in the second week of July is seen as another reason for the rocketing price of the cryptocurrency. With bitcoin becoming scarcer, the market may already be gearing up for the halving event.

As thing stand, the market cap of all mined bitcoins has crossed $9 billion, a figure last seen in early 2014. The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies stands at over $11.2 billion, with Ethereum following Bitcoin as the second biggest cryptocurrency, now valued at $1.1 billion.

For a live Bitcoin Price chart, click here.

All time references are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Featured image from Shutterstock.