The representation of the virtual currency Bitcoin is seen on a motherboard in this illustrated image from April 24, 2020.
Dat Ruvic | Reuters
Bitcoin broke a $ 60,000 record on Saturday morning, continuing its rally as major companies and financial institutions adopt cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, was at $ 60,415.34 as of 7:25 a.m. ET, according to Coinbase, recovering from a decline in late February, which followed an earlier record that month.
Digital currency has grown 963% in the last 12 months, according to Coinbase. Its value exceeded $ 1 trillion last week for the second time this year.
The Bitcoin rally is partly driven by increased adoption by institutional investors and larger firms and by speculative demand. Tesla has bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and intends to accept digital currency as payment for its products, a decision that has sparked wider interest.
Mastercard also said it will open its network to some digital currencies. And PayPal and BNY Mellon made some moves in space.
Bitcoin believers claim that the current rally is fueled by demand from institutional investors and is different from past rallies, such as when bitcoin rose to nearly $ 20,000 at the end of 2017 before losing about 80% of its value last year. future.
Others argue that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and are concerned that bitcoin could be one of the biggest market bubbles fueled by registered incentives.