The average price of bitcoin across global exchanges is trending up, having already climbed over $100 during today's trading.

At press time, bitcoin prices were trading around $4,265, a figure that was up nearly $130 from the day's open of $4,137. The uptick, while slight in comparison to the cryptocurrency's 300% appreciation in 2017, nonetheless comes during a period in which bitcoin has had difficulty building support above $4,000.

Over the last seven days, bitcoin has dipped below $4,000 several times, most recently during August 22's trading session.

Overall, bitcoin appears to be settling into a period of sideways trading after rising 55% over the last month and nearly 90% over the last three months, according to data provider CoinMarketCap. By contrast, this week, bitcoin is up only 2.3%.

As such, it remains to be seen whether the market lull is merely a pause in the rally, or a broader sign of potential fatigue in the nascent asset class.

Suggesting the former is that the increase also coincided with a broader movement of capital into alternative cryptocurrencies, with the value of the entire asset class reaching an all-time high of more than $150 billion earlier today.

$100 bill image via Shutterstock