Bitcoin rose as high as $38,346.61 on Friday as the world's most popular cryptocurrency faced the latest hurdle in its path back to record highs. The digital token has staged a strong comeback rally over the past week as retail-investor demand fuels new inflows. That momentum now faces a key test as bitcoin struggles to hold above the $38,000 resistance level. Bitcoin rose above the threshold in Thursday trading before sinking back below $37,000 later in the day. The token traded 1% higher from 24 hours ago, at $38,065.03, as of 10:10 a.m. ET Friday. Despite tumbling from its early January peak, bitcoin is still up 31% year-to-date. Bitcoin leaped to an all-time high of nearly $42,000 at the start of the year before profit-taking dragged prices back to earth. The token traded in a narrow range of roughly $32,000 before climbing higher through the end of last month. Friday's climb is the third time in the past week bitcoin edged above the $38,000 level. The token traded above the threshold on January 29 before surrendering the support and sinking as low as $33,000. Thursday's attempt to break above the ceiling gave way to a less dire plunge. Some technical signals suggest the token could finally enjoy a new price floor. Bitcoin's Relative Strength Index - a gauge of momentum over the past 14 days - sits just above 60. Readings above 70 suggest the cryptocurrency is overbought. Measures of trend fluctuations also suggest Friday's leap could finally pull bitcoin to new heights.