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Bitcoin continued to rise on Wednesday, exceeding the $ 51,000 level for the first time.
The red-hot cryptocurrency reached a new record price of $ 51,715 around 4:50 am Eastern Time, according to data from Coin Metrics. The last trade was 5% higher, at $ 51,222.
Bitcoin was created in 2009, not long after the global financial crisis. It went from a protest against the banking system to something like a “digital gold” that is starting to catch traditional investors.
On Wall Street, major investment banks appear to be enthusiastic about bitcoin. JPMorgan said recently that it is seriously analyzing the asset class, while Goldman Sachs has also shown interest in cryptography. Meanwhile, a division of Morgan Stanley is considering adding bitcoin to its list of possible bets.
Meanwhile, companies like PayPal and Mastercard have made significant moves to support cryptocurrencies. And Tesla said last week that it invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and planned to accept digital currency as payment for its products.
Bitcoin’s latest hike reminded many investors of its huge rise to nearly $ 20,000 in 2017, which was followed by a sharp drop the following year, which saw the digital currency lose 80% of its value.
But the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has since returned a fierce return, more than quadrupling in 2020 and gaining more than 70% since the beginning of this year.
Supporters of Bitcoin say this is due to the increased demand from institutional investors, as well as the corporate purchase of digital currency from companies like Tesla, Square and MicroStrategy. Skeptics, on the other hand, fear that bitcoin is the biggest market bubble in the financial markets.
JPMorgan strategists said in a note on Tuesday that unless bitcoin’s volatility starts to decrease, its current price “looks unsustainable”. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have earned a reputation for their extreme price swings.