Bitcoin smashes all-time high of $4,000 on global exchanges

Bitcoin has hit a new record high, reaching an average of $4,000 on global exchanges over the weekend, according to CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency has stayed above the mark in early Monday trading.

The world's most popular cryptocurrency has appreciated nearly 50 percent over the last month of trading, with data from the CoinDesk BPI indicating that the price of bitcoin was $2,423 on June 12.

The most dramatic growth has taken place over the past week, after bitcoin split into two to create a spinoff cryptocurrency called 'bitcoin cash.'

The split, which took place on August 1, came after an ongoing battle among the cryptocurrency community over the rules that should govern bitcoin's network.

Bitcoin is up nearly 25 percent on the week since the split, while bitcoin cash has risen 17 percent.

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Some analysts have predicted that bitcoin will continue to rise in value, with Ronnie Moas of Standpoint Research, a company that specializes in investment and stock recommendations, predicting it will reach $5,000 by 2018.

“It would not shock me to see cryptocurrencies go to 4 percent” of global investment assets, Moas said earlier this week, as quoted by Quartz.

“Before anyone laughs at me for suggesting that something like that could happen—just look at what happened [in bitcoin] in the last five years. People who put in $10,000 made $1 million already. It happened already and I think it will happen one more time. We are in the 15th minute of a 90-minute soccer game—and it could go to overtime."