Bitcoin, which has struggled to hold on to previous attempts to gain a footing above $4,000, has today rallied to a little over the psychological barrier, gaining almost 4% over the last 24 trading period.
The bitcoin price rise comes as bitcoin daily trading volume tops $11 billion, the most seen in a 24-hour period since last April, when the bitcoin price was trading at over $8,000.
Meanwhile, the price of ethereum, Ripple's XRP, litecoin, and bitcoin rival bitcoin cash all rallied along with bitcoin, each gaining between 5% and 18%, and adding some $6 billion to the total value of the world's cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin trading volume reaching near 12-month highs has been taken as a sign that investors aren’t losing interest in bitcoin, which remains the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization by some margin, despite the bitter so-called crypto winter that is crippling the bitcoin and cryptocurrency sector.
Bitcoin trade volume had for a long time closely aligned with the price until a bitcoin cash civil war-inspired market rout in November, which saw bitcoin trade volumes hold despite the crypto market rout.