Bitcoin smashes past $8500 per coin with 8% jump in price

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has surged by nearly 8 percent within the last 24 hours, according to data from Messari.

Bitcoin is now trading well above $8,500 per coin for the first time in weeks. The world’s top cryptocurrency by market cap is currently hovering around $8,700 per coin, which represents a two-month high.

Bitcoin was last trading at these prices in November but had been on a steady decline since then. Prices dropped all the way to below $7,000 per coin at the start of the new year.

Many analysts have pointed to political unrest as the likely cause behind Bitcoin’s recent bullish behavior. The cryptocurrency’s price rallied earlier this month following a US air strike on Iran that killed one of the country’s top generals. 

Earlier today, an Internet shutdown in Venezuela was linked to another jump in BTC’s price, potentially as a reaction to the news. The National Assembly of the socialist nation voted to implement restrictions to various social media platforms, and the price spike and the shutdown appear to coincide.

Bitcoin and other forms of crypto, such as Dash, remain popular payment options in Venezuela given the hyperinflation of its national currency, the bolivar.

Meanwhile, the rest of the market appears to be following Bitcoin’s lead. Ethereum is up nearly 13 percent on the day, trading for $162 per token, while Bitcoin SV has hit an all-time high of $328 per coin.