Bitcoin Tops 3-Week High As Price Inches Upward

In the face of continued division over its technical roadmap, the price of bitcoin has responded by creeping closer to all-time highs.

Following positive sessions over the weekend, the price of bitcoin hit a high of $1,219 to start Monday's session, reaching a total the market hadn't seen since late March. At press time, the price of bitcoin was trading at $1,216, slightly below that figure.

The three-week high observed is the highest figure since 16th March, when bitcoin hit a high of $1,260 amid a period of heavy volatility. (The day's low was $1,132, a differential of more than $100 for that day's trading).

Yet, indicators suggest it's not yet clear exactly which direction the bitcoin price is heading.

On Friday, for example, bitcoin faced heavy resistance at the $1,200 level and struggled to move upward. This was despite 80% of the market entering buy orders at 20:00 UTC, according to data from BFXdatahttps://www.bfxdata.com/orderbooks/btcusd, a service that tracks trading activity on Bitfinex.

Today, that indecision seems apparent once again, as 24-hour trades favored buy orders 61% to 39%, while 1-hour order book activity favored sellers 56% to 44%.

The price increase further comes amid a decline in exchange-traded bitcoin volume from peaks observed in the wake of a US regulator's decision to reject a retail investment product focused on the technology in mid-March.

Roughly 100,000 bitcoins have been traded in the last 24 hours, with Bitfinex, OKCoin and Kraken observing the most activity during this span.

Measuring tape image via Shutterstock