Bitcoin Breaks Above $10,000 in Spot Market

For the first time in three months, bitcoin’s price is being quoted in five digits to the left of the decimal.

The top cryptocurrency crossed above $10,000 at 04:10 UTC and printed a high of $10,176 during the early European trading hours. That was the highest level since Oct. 26, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index.

At press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $10,130, representing 3 percent gains on a 24-hour basis.

The move above $10,000 is accompanied by an improvement in the on-chain fundamentals and looks sustainable. “This breakout is the real deal. Fundamental investment activity is backing this $10k breakout,” Willy Woo, partner at Adaptive Capital, tweeted early Sunday.

With the surge above $10,000, the cryptocurrency's year-to-date gains have risen to 41 percent and its market capitalization has increased to $183 billion. The cryptocurrency is now up more than $3,500 from the low of $6,425 registered in mid-December.

Bitcoin picked up a bid below $7,000 in early January and has been rising ever since in a textbook bull move: a steady uptrend with regular low-volume pullbacks testing dip demand.

Bigger gains for altcoins

A majority of top alternative cryptocurrencies (or "altcoins") are outperforming bitcoin, leading bitcoin’s dominance of the overall cryptocurrency market to fall to 64 percent, the lowest level in seven-months.

Ethereum’s ether token ETH$3,018.24 is currently trading at $230, the highest level since August, a 78 percent gain on a year-to-date basis.

Prominent names like LTC$76.75, EOS and binance coin BNB$857.96 are up 70 to 90 percent, and BCH$590.02 and BSV$18.46 added 120 percent and 250 percent, respectively, according to data site CoinMarketCap.

These coins, however, are lagging bitcoin on a 24-hour basis.