After a period of drops and consolidation since mid-February, Bitcoin has found its mojo again and soared to new all-time highs rose above $60,000 for the first time on Saturday, as increasing backing from corporate heavyweights helps the world’s most popular virtual currency continue its record-breaking run.
In a move starting just after 10:00 a.m. UTC Saturday, the top cryptocurrency by market cap crossed $60,000 for the first time and hours later crossed $61,000 to set a new all-time high of $61,556.59, according to the CoinDesk 20. In recent trading, bitcoin was at $61,119.51, up 7.47% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin has been on a meteoric rise since March last year, when it stood at $5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying it would allow account holders to use cryptocurrency.
Last month Elon Musk’s electric carmaker Tesla invested $1.5 billion in the virtual unit, while Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and rap mogul Jay-Z said they are creating a fund aimed at making Bitcoin “the internet’s currency”.
Others jumping on the bandwagon include Wall Street player BNY Mellon, investment fund giant BlackRock and credit card titan Mastercard.
“Institutional investment continues to build momentum with Chinese internet firm Meitu the latest to execute a Bitcoin treasury strategy, ” according to Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner of Kenetic, a Hong Kong-based trading firm.
The new high comes two days after President Joe Biden signed a massive $1.9 trillion stimulus program into law that is sending checks for $1,400 to U.S. citizens. According to various media accounts, people have started receiving the checks, which could be another factor in bitcoin’s rise.
The move to $61,000 brought bitcoin’s market cap to $1.14 trillion – not so far below the $1.385 trillion value of Alphabet (Google), according to CompaniesMarketCap.com.
Bitcoin, which was launched back in 2009, hit the headlines in 2017 after soaring from less than $1,000 in January to almost $20,000 in December of the same year.
The virtual bubble then burst in subsequent days, with bitcoin’s value then fluctuating wildly before sinking below $5,000 by October 2018.
However the last year’s rise has been more steady, with investors and Wall Street finance giants wooed by dizzying growth, the opportunity for profit and asset diversification, and a safe store of value to guard against inflation.