Bitcoin Breaks Above $10,000 in Spot Market

For the first time in three months, bitcoin’s price is being quoted in five digits to the left of the decimal.

The top cryptocurrency crossed above $10,000 at 04:10 UTC and printed a high of $10,176 during the early European trading hours. That was the highest level since Oct. 26, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index.

At press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $10,130, representing 3 percent gains on a 24-hour basis.

The move above $10,000 is accompanied by an improvement in the on-chain fundamentals and looks sustainable. “This breakout is the real deal. Fundamental investment activity is backing this $10k breakout,” Willy Woo, partner at Adaptive Capital, tweeted early Sunday.

With the surge above $10,000, the cryptocurrency's year-to-date gains have risen to 41 percent and its market capitalization has increased to $183 billion. The cryptocurrency is now up more than $3,500 from the low of $6,425 registered in mid-December.

Bitcoin picked up a bid below $7,000 in early January and has been rising ever since in a textbook bull move: a steady uptrend with regular low-volume pullbacks testing dip demand.

Bigger gains for altcoins

A majority of top alternative cryptocurrencies (or "altcoins") are outperforming bitcoin, leading bitcoin’s dominance of the overall cryptocurrency market to fall to 64 percent, the lowest level in seven-months.

Ethereum’s ether token (ETH) is currently trading at $230, the highest level since August, a 78 percent gain on a year-to-date basis.

Prominent names like litecoin (LTC), EOS and binance coin (BNB) are up 70 to 90 percent, and bitcoin cash (BCH) and bitcoin SV (BSV) added 120 percent and 250 percent, respectively, according to data site CoinMarketCap.

These coins, however, are lagging bitcoin on a 24-hour basis.