The price of bitcoin surged by as much as 8 percent over the weekend in what may either be a temporary blip or the end of the cryptocurrency’s longest-ever bear run.

The turnaround started on Friday with bitcoin going from $3,353.58 to $3,657.34 before settling down in a trading band mostly above $3,580.

Described as a “straight out of left field rally” by NewsBTC reports, the price increase has some analysts expressing optimism “for the first time in a blue moon.”

One such analyst was Thomas Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat Global and a former managing partner at JP Morgan Chase, who claimed that technical analysts who were bearish last month are becoming “incrementally bullish” on BTC. He said the rally presents a positive technical case for bitcoin going forward.

CRYPTO: Some TA's who were bearish in 2019 are becoming incrementally bullish on #BTC $BTC
The one below refers to the 200-week mavg acting as support, something @rsluymer @fundstrat TA also noted as key support for Bitcoin.https://t.co/QOBqcQ83FV

— Thomas Lee (@fundstrat) February 10, 2019

While Lee takes a sensible, analytical approach to bitcoin moving forward, others are far more exuberant. Talking on The Next Billion Seconds podcast, for instance, bitcoin pioneer and published author Mark Jeffery claimed that cryptocurrencies are much like the early dot-com industry and are only now entering their third act.

“And if it’s anything like the Dotcom boom and bust, we saw a little hump, then a dead period, and then an actual value ascension with Amazon, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn and on,” Jeffery said. “I think we’re going to see that same thing with cryptocurrencies.”

Jeffery predicts that bitcoin will eventually rise in value to a stunning $250,000, though he didn’t provide a time frame. If that number seems familiar, venture capitalist Tim Draper made the same prediction last year.

To get anywhere near there, demand has to rise a lot, and one such startup that could assist with that demand has been delayed again.

Cryptocurrency startup Bakkt LLC., the brainchild of New York Stock Exchange owner Intercontinental Exchange Inc., was meant to launch in early 2019 but has been delayed because of regulatory issues.

The company, complete with a war chest of $182.5 million in venture capital funding, is planning to offer traditional cryptocurrency services as well as futures and spot options trading for institutional investors. Intercontinental is now saying only that Bakkt will launch “later this year.”

As of 10 p.m. EST, bitcoin was trading at $3,596.11.

Image: 30478819@N08/Flickr