(Reuters) -Digital Bitcoin expanded its record high on Saturday, starting the year with an increase of more than $ 30,000 for the first time, with more and more traders and investors betting that it is about to become a regular payment method .
The price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency traded up $ 31,824 early Saturday, with almost all other markets closing in the first weekend of 2021. It rose about 8 percent to $ 31,743.
Bitcoin has advanced by more than 300% in 2020 and, with the most recent major stage, added more than 50% since crossing $ 20,000 just two weeks ago.
The blockchain has only existed for about a decade and in 2020 saw an increase in demand from larger US investors, attracted by the perceived qualities of hedging inflation and the potential for quick gains, as well as expectations that it will become a payment. main method.
Investors said the limited supply of bitcoin – produced by so-called “mining” computers that validate blocks of transactions competing to solve mathematical puzzles – has helped boost movements in recent days.
Some also saw it as a refuge during the gold-like COVID-19 pandemic.
It trades on numerous stock exchanges, the largest of which is Coinbase, which is preparing itself to go public and become the first such platform to appear on Wall Street.
Multi-competitor cryptocurrencies that use similar blockchain technology or electronic accounting. Ethereum, the second largest, gained 465% in 2020 and rose 5.3% on Saturday.
Reporting by Alden Bentley; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Diane Craft