Bitcoin (BTC) has recently surged past the $7,000 mark, according to data from CryptoCompare. After an extended bear market, which has seen cryptocurrency prices decline sharply from their all-time highs in December of 2017, the digital currency market as a whole also seems to showing some signs of recovery.

minute_CryptoCompare_Index_BTC_USD_289_51535458852382.pngSource: CryptoCompare

While it might be too early to consider these positive price movements to be the start of a bull run, it’s worth noting that bitcoin’s price did drop below $6,000 around mid-August. The world’s most dominant cryptocurrency, however, is now currently trading at $7,012.11 at the time of writing.

Altcoins Also Surging 

As bitcoin’s price has started to rise, some altcoins are making even more substantial gains.

Notably, CryptoGlobe reported on August 26th that, NANO, which is referred to as “the new global currency”, saw its price surge by as much as 84% in the past week. This increase in the coin’s price may be due to the Nano foundation recently announcing that former vice president of Foreign Exchange at Citibank, Andy Woolmer, had joined NANO’s development team as their first official advisor.

Meanwhile, ICON (ICX), often referred to as the Ethereum of South Korea, also recorded massive gains yesterday.

The surge in the cryptocurrency’s price was largely due to its technology partner, ICONLOOP, being chosen to participate in a South Korean government program. Reacting to the news, ICX’s price shot up by over 20% within 24 hours following the announcement to around $0.96 (from previous lows below $.50).

Bitcoin (BTC) Stands Strong After ETF Rejections

In other Bitcoin news, Jordan Ross Belfort, a former US stock broker charged for orchestrating pump-and-dump scams that resulted in $200 million in losses for numerous investors, remarked that the same approach he used to scam people is “exactly what’s happening with bitcoin,” adding that:

The whole thing is so stupid, these kids have gotten themselves so brainwashed.

Despite Belfort’s lack of confidence in the cryptocurrency, there are several positive signs that can be drawn from bitcoin’s price movements.

First and foremost, despite the recent rejection of nine Bitcoin ETF proposals by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), bitcoin did not experience the kind of sell-off many analysts might have predicted.

Furthermore, as reported yesterday (August 27th), technical analysis indicators had shown that as bitcoin’s price approached $7,000 level, it was expected to break through it.   

Moreover, bitcoin’s price analysis suggests that now that it has surpassed the $7k mark, the chances of the coin going on to reach $7,500 and $8,000 are now substantially higher.