Bitcoin surges, hitting $5,000 for the first time this year

Bitcoin has been in a lull in recent months. The largest cryptocurrency’s price kept declining throughout 2018, finally finding a bottom at roughly $3,200 last December. Since then, it’s been a slow and shaky climb upwards. 

On Tuesday, however, the price of Bitcoin surged more than 15% in less than an hour. The price briefly surpassed $5,000 on some exchanges, but is now slowly declining and currently sits at $4680, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Bitcoin’s price is known to be volatile, but this surge is notable as Bitcoin hasn’t come close to $5,000 since November 2018. Furthermore, the sudden rise brings back memories of 2017, when such enormous price increases were nothing out of the ordinary.