TOKYO, Japan - Analysts noted that the price of bitcoin reached an all-time high this week, helped by Japanese and South Korean buying.

Further, the digital currency is said to have more than doubled its value since the start of the year.

As the price peaked at $2,760.10 on Thursday due to increased buying, Coinbase, the global bitcoin company that allows consumers to buy and sell bitcoins experienced website outages.

The price has since fallen back to $2,632.74.

According to CryptoCompare.com, in Japan and South Korea, the largest markets for bitcoin globally, the digital currency traded at a premium of more than $300 higher above the global average.

Analysts stated that the rally appeared to have been driven by new buying from smaller retail investors, suggesting bitcoins are increasingly viewed among the general investing public as an alternative asset class much like gold.

Kim Jin-hyeong, an official at Coinone, a South Korean cryptocurrency services provider said in a statement, "There were some people that made a big profit in a short time and it got more media attention. Then even people that hadn't known about virtual currencies began coming in, thinking it can be a way to make big money in a short time."

Meanwhile, Bobby Lee, CEO of BTCC in Shanghai, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, said the global macroeconomic environment, which has seen sustained low interest rates, was conducive to investments in alternative assets like gold, silver and bitcoin.

According to a Japanese analyst, "In the past, bitcoin was traded only by the people who have been dealing with crypto-currencies. This year, regular people are starting to join, making trading so volatile."

Leonhard Weese, president of the Bitcoin Association Hong Kong and a bitcoin investor said, "Retail investors who might otherwise have traded stocks or an exchange traded fund are now trading bitcoins. Suddenly everyone is realising that there will only ever be 21 million bitcoins and that this might be there last chance to get into the market - and that is what is leading to these huge price spikes."