The price of bitcoin inched upward over the course of trading today, passing $1, for the first time on CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index since early January

Though the price (at press time) was still shy of a three-year high of $1, set in January of that year, the milestone nonetheless marks a bright beginning to for the digital currency. (Bitcoin appreciated by more than % in ).

The price had reached as high as $ earlier in the day only to fall back to the $s, a pattern that was similarly observed over the last week of trading as bitcoin failed to build momentum toward $1,

The increase notably took place during what was a day of lower-than-average trading volume, 7-day exchange data from Bitcoinity reveals.

As asserted by analysts, is expected to be a banner year, one that could finally lead the price to pass its all-time high of $1, set in

For more on how markets analysts view , find our latest feature here.

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