Bitcoin surges 10% in sudden move to above $7,500

Bitcoin surged more than 17 percent in a sudden move on Thursday to above $8,000, according to trading on Coinbase.

The cryptocurrency hit a high of $8,011 was trading about 14.4 percent higher near $7,846 as of 7:54 a.m. ET, according to Coinbase.

Bitcoin had been suffering from tax-related selling in the run-up to the U.S. tax deadline on April 17. Some traders indicated Thursday’s move could be an unwinding of that pressure.

“The ratio of short margin trades versus longs has been increasing recently,” said Nick Kirk, quantitative developer and data scientist at Cypher Capital, a cryptocurrency trading firm. “Buying volume ticked up today and a lot of these short trades got liquidated, helping fuel the rally.”

Bitcoin has treaded water in April after dropping below $7,000 at the end of last month. It surged above $19,000 in December.

Check back for updates. This is a developing story.