Bitcoin surged through $11,000 over the weekend as some are starting to suggest that the cryptocurrency could be repeating its record run of 2017.

The price of bitcoin peaked at $11,191.31 at 4:30 p.m. EDT Sunday before dropping again to $10,691.44 as of 10:20 p.m., having spent the last 48 hours trading in a price band mostly between $10,500 and $11,000. The last time bitcoin was trading in that range was early March 2018.

The current bitcoin bull run dates back to March, when bitcoin surged through $4,000 after trading in the mid-$3,000 range since December. While experiencing some hiccups along the way, including a placid start to June, the bull run quickly returned with prices this month now up over $3,000, a rise of some 40%.

As is always the case with bitcoin, the reasons for its price increase are all over the place, with analysts and the cryptocurrency media all promoting different theories.

On Thursday, as bitcoin was teasing $10,000, reasons cited included more interest in cryptocurrencies following Facebook’s launch of Libra as well as simple momentum in bitcoin’s rise.

Since that time, demand for bitcoin from India may have helped bitcoin surge through $10,000 as the country prepares to ban cryptocurrencies within its borders. Although not law as yet, a proposal, which includes a complete ban on the sale, purchase and issuance of cryptocurrencies, came from an Indian government interministerial panel that likened cryptocurrencies to Ponzi schemes.

Changpeng Zhao, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, suggested that the ban is directly related to demand.

The more it is "banned", the more people want it. https://t.co/weOVZGCaz3

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 22, 2019

The increased demand was reflected on Indian markets, with bitcoin trading at a $500 premium in the country, according to Bitcoinist.

Whatever the reasons, many are positive looking forward.

“This is no difference from the rally and bubble of 2017,” Clem Chambers, cryptocurrency expert and chief executive officer of Online Blockchain Ltd., told SiliconANGLE. “In both cases it is driven by the blockchain revolution set to add trillions in value to the world economy.”

Chambers noted that the entire cryptocurrency market is still only the size of a single Nasdaq blue-chip stock, so there’s a long way to get there. “There will be cycles of boom, bubble and bust and this is another boom/bubble part of that,” he said. “How high it goes this time is anyone’s guess, but mine is above the previous high.”

Photo: 30478819@N08/Flickr