Bitcoin price tops $8,000–here’s why it’s probably surging

Last week I wrote about bitcoin’s most recent price surge. At the time, the price was at around $7,500–a $1,000 bump from a few days prior. And it seemed like the momentum would continue.

Indeed, early this morning the price surge continued, with the cryptocurrency hitting a high of $8,342.62, according to Coindesk. It’s since gone down slightly to about $8,239, but is still up over 6%.

There are a few factors at play that could be contributing to this surge:

• Institutional interest: As I wrote about last week, financial organizations like Blackrock and Mastercard have recently made their interest in bitcoin known.
• Hopes for a bitcoin ETF: Similarly, the possibility of a bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund has seemed more likely of late. While the SEC has been reticent to allow for a crypto-based ETF, two organizations have resubmitted proposals that are giving hope to many bitcoin evangelists.

While this price boom is nowhere near the level where bitcoin was performing at last…