Bitcoin price passes $10,000 as cryptocurrency's spectacular recovery continues

Market analysts say Facebook's plans to launch its Libra digital currency provided big boost

The price of bitcoin has broken above $10,000 (£7,855) for the first time since March 2018, as the cryptocurrency's remarkable surge in value continues.

Bitcoin passed the milestone after experiencing gains of more than 10 per cent over the last 24 hours.

The price jump saw the world's largest cryptocurrency reach as high as $10,831, according to the CoinMarketCap price index, taking its overall market capitalisation close to $200 billion.

Bitcoin's most recent run of good form began in early February, when it was trading at well below $4,000.

It had reached this price after more than a year of steady declines saw its price withdraw dramatically from its late 2017 peak of close to $20,000.

Bitcoin's recent run has drawn comparisons from some with bitcoin's run in 2017, with some hoping it can go beyond its previous record high.

"This really is amazing," one crypto enthusiast wrote on Twitter. "It has 2017 written all over it... where does bitcoin stop this time?"

The price of bitcoin is notoriously difficult to predict, though some experts suggest it could pass the 2017 peak in the coming months.

Other major cryptocurrencies like ethereum, ripple and litecoin were boosted by bitcoin's recent run, with gains of between 20-35 per cent over the last month.

But it may have been as as-yet unreleased cryptocurrency that helped spur on bitcoin's recent rise.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced plans to launch its own version of bitcoin in 2020 called Libra.

The price of bitcoin has more than doubled since the start of 2019 (CoinMarketCap)

Many cryptocurrency experts suggest that rather than posing as a rival to bitcoin, Facebook's new coin adds legitimacy to the space and is a boost to the industry in general.

“The Facebook-created blockchain is a reinforcement of the long-held idea in the Bitcoin community that a financial services system built on the blockchain will supplant legacy bank-based systems," Steven Eliscu from DMG Blockchain told The Independent.

"In the immediate future, Libra provides a huge overall boost to the sector that we believe will catalyse institutional and government acceptance such that - at least the top - public cryptocurrencies are here to stay and will remain an ever important asset class that hundreds of millions of people will hold.”