Bitcoin Breakout: Price Spikes $500 in One Hour to Top $11.5k

After a day of largely sideways trading, the price of bitcoin is once again back in uncharted territory.

Beginning at 11:00 UTC, bitcoin saw a sudden surge, data from the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) reveals, rising from $11,115 to set a new high of $11,655 by the end of the hour. The nearly 5 percent gain saw bitcoin erase its previous all-time high of roughly $11,300.

All-in-all bitcoin is up nearly 7 percent on the day, rising more than $700 from an average opening of $10,895 across global exchanges.

With the push, the total value of all cryptographic assets once again neared $350 billion, according to data provider Coinmarketcap. And while the market is yet to cross the total, a quick look at the charts reveals gains across available assets.

At press time, each of the top 10 coins by market capitalization were in the green, with two protocols that previously forked from bitcoin posting double-digit gains as well.

For example, bitcoin cash was once again closing in on its all-time highs at $1,621 (the price was more than 12 percent on the day), while bitcoin gold was up nearly 13 percent and trading at $340.

Still, it's not clear whether markets believe bitcoin can push much higher (in the short term) given the more than 1,000 percent gains seen in 2017. Doubtless, all eyes will be on Dec. 18, the day U.S. markets will see the launch of three bitcoin derivatives products that could enable Wall Street to short the asset.

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