Bitcoin prices are taking off again, now worth over $500

Bitcoin prices have taken off in the last few days. In recent action, bitcoin rose to $532.13. That’s up about 20% since last Friday’s level of $445.01 according to CoinDesk’s bitcoin price index, which tracks prices on three exchanges. While $500 is a far cry from levels around $1,000, where bitcoin was trading late last year, it’s significant because bitcoin has been hovering in the $400s since late March.

In this week’s bitcoin review, we take a look at the rise in bitcoin price and some trouble in the world of altcoins. Maybe a little bit of rest is just what market needed. With no major scandals or threats of regulation from China, the price of bitcoin has crossed the $500 mark this week — hitting numbers we haven’t really seen since late March, with the exception of a small blip in April. Perhaps there’s some renewed optimism at play after the major Bitcoin 2014 conference in Amsterdam last week and also BitPay’s large funding round. Meanwhile, the altcoin world has seen a bit of shuffling of its leaderboard: We’re now seeing the rise of Darkcoin. Bitcoin’s “shadowy” cousin is gaining traction in a big way, with its value shooting from $0.75 to more than $7 in only a month,according to Wired’s Andy Greenberg.