The price of bitcoin broke through $4,000 per coin for the first time on Sunday, reaching its highest ever level, and is still above the symbolic level in early trade on Monday.

Bitcoin crossed the $4,000 mark at close to 1.00 a.m. on Sunday and stands at $4,056.80 at the time of writing (7.10 a.m. BST/2.10 a.m. ET).

Iqbal V. Gandham, UK MD of trading platform eToro, said in an emailed statement: “Bitcoin hitting $4,000 is another milestone in long list of big moments the cryptocurrency has witnessed in recent weeks. Following a fall to $1,800, it has come back strongly and relatively steadily. This is encouraging.

“Furthermore, the ecosystem is also getting stronger. You now have more places to spend Bitcoin, more regulators thinking about the right infrastructure, and more investors learning about the asset. Speculation is rightly moving away from price and focusing on use cases.”

Bitcoin has been on an incredible rally this year, up over 300% since the start of the year. The digital currency only passed $3,500 for the first time earlier this month.

Elsewhere in the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin Cash, the new cryptocurrency that was split off from bitcoin at the start of the month, is also rallying strongly.

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Bitcoin Cash is up 6.99% to $319.25.

Foto: sourceMarkets Insider

Ethereum, the other major cryptocurrency, is rallying too. The digital currency is up 7.45% to $319.76 on Monday morning in London.

Foto: sourceMarkets Insider