It happened, folks! Bitcoin has broken $9,000! At press time, the currency is trading for just under $9,400 – a near $500 rise from yesterday’s high.

Billionaire tech investor Tim Draper is referring to bitcoin as bigger than both the Internet and the Industrial Revolution, and with so many analysts predicting another massive breakout in the coming months, he may not be far off the mark.

This is the first time since early March that the currency has struck this kind of territory, and most experts seem to be pointing their fingers and shouting, “I told you so.”

“I’m not surprised to see bitcoin’s price exceed $9,000 this week,” says Rodrigo Marques, CEO of investment platform Atlas Quantum. “Rumors of a price explosion seem to have been driven by more and more institutional buyers getting into cryptocurrencies.”

The Independent notes statistics showing buy orders for cryptocurrencies ultimately increasing by roughly 92 percent in over a year, and taking up a large part of the market’s activity.

“With so many buy orders placing pressure on the cryptocurrency market, a significant price shift is highly likely,” the source explains.

Another reason behind the sudden price change could be a growing change in the public’s attitude towards regulation. Up until this point, regulation has often been viewed in a negative light – an entity that would somehow destroy investor privacy and monetary independence, but the tide is now taking a different turn.

While the threat of regulation still exists, some see certain tactics as necessary for the security of the cryptocurrency industry, and say that investor privacy can be sustained while exploiting blockchain benefits. One of these suggesting figures was IMF boss Christine Lagarde in a recent discussion regarding ether, Ripple and other virtual assets that are experiencing heightened popularity.

Marques commented on the attitudinal shift, explaining:

“Although there are ongoing regulatory concerns in key markets, they do seem to be dissipating. If these concerns are addressed and there is even more positive movement related to regulation in these markets, there could be even more buying pressure to come.”

With the recent price barrier broken, analysts are very confident bitcoin can reach the $10,000 mark in the coming week, and that newfound optimism amongst investors could allegedly trigger a stronger bull phase.

“Bitcoin is well on its way to $10,000, and the volumes, buy orders and momentum oscillators all point towards this,” says blockchain advisor Oliver Isaacs. “Bitcoin is up over 15 percent in the last seven days, and there are clear signs that the bull run is back. Over the past few months, bitcoin had lost nearly three-quarters of its value, but now investors are seeing a lot of value across the board, and market caps are rising rapidly.”

In addition, bitcoin evangelist Alistair Milne predicts the currency could reach anywhere between $35,000 and $60,000 by 2020, and hedge fund CEO Joe DiPasquale also notes a dramatic shift in bitcoin’s behavior.

“Bitcoin’s spot price has definitely seen a positive shift in sentiment over the past week,” he stated. “Some big players have recently entered the space, and many of the circumstantial barriers that were feeding the bears appear to have lifted. All indications show this should be the start of a nice, steady climb.”