Bitcoin, which earlier this week had its strongest trading day since its legendary December 2017 bull run, has moved higher again over the last few hours, giving heart to those who had feared bitcoin’s sudden surge would be short-lived.

The bitcoin price ticked up to $5,240 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since November last year when a bitcoin cash-inspired civil war amongst the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community caused a near halving of bitcoin’s value.

The latest price surge, the exact cause of which is still not clear, adds 3% to the bitcoin price over the last 24 trading period and some $4 billion to total bitcoin market capitalization.

Bitcoin’s sudden price rally this week appears to have been sparked by a large trade order from a mysterious buyer, which set off a wave of algorithmic buying as computer programs scrambled to place orders of their own and not miss out on the sudden price surge.

The bitcoin price has now risen by almost 30% since last weekend after a strong month in March, though the unexpected price break out left many analysts and traders scratching their heads over its precise cause.

This week has seen a sudden return of mainstream media attention to bitcoin and cryptocurrencies after they lost interest as the bitcoin price slumped throughout last year.

Google searches for “bitcoin” are back to levels they last hit in November at the height of the bitcoin cash civil war and potentially leading to so-called fear of missing out (FOMO) buying of bitcoin and other digital tokens, most which have also risen strongly over the last few hours.

 

In other key bitcoin-related developments this week, which have contributed to a bullish outlook for cryptocurrencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told investors in a startup using crypto-tokens similar to bitcoin to raise capital that it won’t take action against the company.

Meanwhile, online payments giant PayPal caused waves when it revealed it has joined a funding round for Cambridge Blockchain, a startup working to give people a way to own their online data and identity via blockchain technology.

Elsewhere, price technical data was also positive. The New York-based research firm Fundstrat Global Advisors found that bitcoin closed above its 200-day moving average for the first time in more than a year on Tuesday, thanks to its huge price rally, and said this could lead to a near 200% increase in the bitcoin price, potentially taking each coin to around $13,500.

“Based on bitcoin’s trading history, a move above the 200-day moving average for bitcoin is meaningful statistically,” Fundstrat researchers wrote in a note to clients. “When bitcoin is above its 200-day moving average its win-ratio is 80% compared to a mere 36% when it is below its 200-day.

“Six-month forward returns average 193% compared to a measly 10% when below its 200-day moving average—hence, being above the 200-day moving average is a big deal.”

Though the bitcoin price has been trading flat for a number of months now, bold bitcoin bulls have continued to talk up bitcoin and cryptocurrency prospects, with the founder and chief executive of crypto asset manager Galaxy Digital Mike Novogratz saying the next move bitcoin makes will be “higher.”