Bitcoin Price Tops $4,400 As Crypto Market Nears $150 Billion

Bitcoin prices have set an all-time high above $4,400.

Just an hour after the August 15 session opened, the average price of bitcoin was up across global exchanges, rising from an opening total of $4,382. At press time, the price continued to edge upward, following a day in which in gained more than $200, rising to $4,382 from $4,111 on Sunday.

Week-over-week, price gains were even more impressive, with the value of the cryptocurrency rising just over 30% from $3,382 at the end of trading a week ago.

The movement comes at a time when institutional investors are beginning to take a new interest in bitcoin and the larger cryptocurrency asset class.

Not only are major investment managers and analysts now tracking the asset, but accredited investors have been seeking to diversify opportunities in the space, investing nearly $200 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) for a blockchain network called filecoin last week, a venture aimed at creating a distributed protocol for file storage.

Also up on the day was the value of all cryptocurrencies issued, with data from Coinmarketcap indicating the asset class is now valued at $141 billion, up nearly 20 percent from $118 billion last week.

Bitcoin image via Shutterstock