LONDON: Bitcoin on Wednesday jumped to a record $28,599.99, after the digital currency almost quadrupled in value this year amid heightened interest from bigger investors.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency was last up 2.3% at $28,012. It has surged by nearly half since breaking $20,000 for the first time on Dec. 16.
Bitcoin has increasingly seen demand from larger US investors in particular, attracted by its perceived inflation-hedging qualities and potential for quick gains, as well as expectations it would become a mainstream payments method.
Other major cryptocurrencies, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, were flat. Ethereum, the second biggest, was down 0.4%, on track for a 2020 gain of around 465%.
Investors said limited supply of bitcoin - produced by so-called “mining” computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles - has helped power upward moves over recent days.
Many recent entrants to the market are holding onto positions, they said.—Reuters