The reason? Big speed breakthrough.

Bitcoin is trading up $660 $677 $708 or 18% after a "plan to quicken trade execution by moving some data off the main network was activated last week. The solution - termed SegWit2x - had been so contentious that a new version of the asset (asset?) called Bitcoin Cash was spun off earlier this month in opposition".

I guess there is tension in other areas outside No. Korea and in Washington.

Bloomberg reports that Arthur Hayes, founder of bitcoin exchange BitMEX said, "With this actually implemented on protocol, theoretically the amount of transactions that can be processed at a reasonable speed is going to be much higher, so a lot of people are very bullish about bitcoin now."

HMMMMM...."theoretically?".

Anyway, you can read all about the latest bitcoin drama here. If you can make sense of it, feel free to post a comment.

Technically, not theoretically, the price gain of 18% is on top of the gapped higher move a week ago. That move saw the price move from $2832 to $3268 over that weekend (+$436). This weekend, the Friday/Monday jump took the price from $3588 to $4060 on the open (+$472). The move up from the August 4th close, to the current price is a gain of 51%. Not bad.

Of course risk is high. Where is risk for longs?

Technically, last week, the price fell below its 50 hour MA but remained above the 100 hour MA for the week (blue line in the chart above). With the gap higher, the price is moving away from the 50 hour and the 100 hour MA. The moving averages on the hourly are being left in the dust.

Drilling to the 5 minute chart, the 100 bar MA has been holding the support after a brief dip. Staying above that MA (blue line currently at 4215.09) keeps the buyers fully in control. A move below is not the end of world, but it turns the tide a little less bullish.

If there are buyers and sellers, and a place to bring them together, there is a market. That market has event risk. liquidity risk and market price risk. With bitcoin, counter party risk is also a concern. The market is largely unregulated. Unregulated markets are open for abuse. Be careful.

My trading comments are only focused on the price action and the technical levels in play. The buyers and sellers should be aware of other risks from dealing in bitcoin.