Bitcoin surges above $15,000 to new high

Bitcoin crossed the $15,000 mark today just 10 hours after topping $14,000. 

The landmark happened on the Coinbase exchange at 10 a.m. London time on Thursday, and it traded as high as $15,200 on that platform. 

CoinDesk still showed the cryptocurrency below the $15,000 level, according to its average of prices across leading exchanges. Bitcoin now has a market value of more than $256 billion, CNBC reported.

The latest swing higher came as bitcoin topped $12,000 Tuesday night in a rapid recovery from a 20 percent drop last week.