Bitcoin surges past $8,000. Is this 2017 all over again?

In the spring of 2017, after several months of sideways trading, the price of Bitcoin started rising — from about $1,000 in early April to $2,500 in mid-May. By August it was at $4,000. The trading was choppy and declines were sudden and severe, but the price always recovered, reaching new highs in a matter of weeks. In November alone, the price started at roughly $6,500 and ended at over $10,000 (all data courtesy of CoinMarketCap). 

Two years later (with a pretty terrible 2018 in between, price-wise), the price of Bitcoin is on a similar trajectory. Last week, it crossed the $6,000 mark for the first time this year. Just five days later, Bitcoin easily surged past $8,000, and it's currently trading at $8,240 at Coinbase. The prices of other cryptocurrencies rose as well; Ethereum, which saw even bigger gains than Bitcoin in 2017, surpassed $200 for the first time this year. Read more...