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A Chinese submarine launches a missile in an offshore blockade exercise during the third phase of the Sino-Russian 'Peace Mission 2005' joint military exercise, held August 23, 2005 near China's Shandong Peninsula. More than 7,000 Chinese troops and 1,800 Russians with military vessels, fighter jets and amphibious tanks took part in the live ammunition combat practice, according to state media.China Photos/Getty Images
Bitcoin is on a wild streak, surging markedly over the weekend.
In the space of a month, bitcoin's value has jumped by more than 30% - from around $450 (£317.38) in mid-May to the sub-$700 mark it is hovering around today.
This is the highest bitcoin's price has been in around two years - it last broke the $700 mark back in February 2014, when it was trending downwards following all-time highs of more than $1,100.
Bitcoin is infamously volatile. This time last year, it was just a third of its current value, around $230. But it has slowly regained value since, gathering pace over the last few weeks.
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Here's the price of bitcoin over the last month:CoinDesk
And here is the price of bitcoin since its inception:
CoinDesk
The price surge comes ahead of a "halvening" later this month. This is a reduction in the amount of bitcoins produced by mining - the process whereby computers dedicate processing power towards creating new bitcoin. When it hits, the amount of bitcoin being introduced in a set time period will halve. As you'd expect when supply is about to be constrained, the price is spiking.
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