Bitcoin has finally broken free from what seemed to be an for over 2 weeks on MtGox. After lightly poking through its resistance level, BTC accelerated, sharply rising as high as $1038 before oscillating about the $1000 in current trading.
At its peak, BTC reached its highest level in 3 weeks when it briefly touched $1093. It is once again trading above its 15 day moving average, something it has not done in 2 weeks as well.
Volumes spiked during the run-up to $1032, easily exceeding 2000 BTC per hour. Volume returned to normal as prices stabilized, even as BTC continues to trade solidly above recent levels.
However, the rise was not as well accentuated on other major exchanges such as Bitstamp of BTC-e. BTC peaked as much as 5% on MtGox and continues to trade 2-3% higher than the $980 resistance level. On Bitstamp, it spiked by only 3.5% and is trading less than 2% higher. BTC-e saw the smallest leap, jumping by less than 2% and trading 1-2% higher than its previous cap.
During the spike on MtGox, the price spread between it and its peers , from its characteristic $100-$120 range. Today the spread has narrowed somewhat to around $180, mostly due to BTC's retreat from its earlier highs on MtGox.
At this point, it is unclear exactly what caused prices to rise and the spread to widen. There is merely speculation of exasperated effects of the greater difficulty in withdrawing fiat from MtGox.
It is possible that the recent acceptance of Bitcoin by TigerDirect helped catalyze the rally. TigerDirect made $250,000 it the first 17 hours of sales, easily eclipsing the $130,000 by on its day of accepting Bitcoin.
