Bitcoin climbed for a fourth day, accelerating a rally that began when it bounced off a technical support level.

The biggest cryptocurrency rose 11 percent to $11,200 as of 11:51 a.m. in New York. That brought its increase to 57 percent since Feb. 6, when it began rebounding from a 200-day moving average, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. Bitcoin outperformed its closest rivals -- Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin -- which gained less than 4 percent, Bloomberg reported.

After a crash in January wiped about half a trillion dollars from the market caps of some 1,500 cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, many found a floor in mid-February. That coincided with statements by many analysts and market watchdogs that seemed to offer tacit acceptance that the assets won’t be regulated out of existence.

Still, until regulators gain a better grip on them, digital currencies will struggle for wider acceptance in mainstream finance, according to S&P Global Ratings.

“The future success of cryptocurrencies will largely depend on the coordinated approach of global regulators and policymakers to regulate and enhance market participants’ confidence in these instruments,” the ratings firm said in a report published Monday. Among the banks S&P rates, “exposure to cryptocurrencies appears to remain limited.”

Bitcoin last closed above $11,000 on Jan. 29.

Bitcoin's price rose over the weekend following news that an unknown investor had bought $344 million worth of bitcoin between February 9 and February 12.

The purchase was preceded by a huge sell-off that had erased more than 50 percent of the cryptocurrency market value amid speculation of growing regulation and security fears.

“Not sure who that big buyer was but many have bought this dip and have added since the rebound and additional regulatory clarity in the US and Asia,” Alex Sunnarborg, founding partner of Tetras Capital said, as quoted by Marketwatch.

"The unknown trader with the bitcoin address 3Cbq7aT1tY8kMxWLbitaG7yT6bPbKChq64 purchased the coins between Feb. 9 and Feb. 12, taking his bitcoin balance from 55,000 coins to more than 96,000," Marketwatch reported.

Meanwhile, historical data suggest that total search volumes of “buy bitcoin” is three times more popular than “buy gold” was during the financial crisis of 2008, when people rushed to buy gold in an attempt to save their cash, according to RT.com.

(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).