At around 1235 GMT, Bitcoin hit a record high of $50,547.70, up 4.4% from Monday.
Bitcoin, once the domain of internet fans and hobbyists, has become very popular and is up nearly 75% this year. Later, around 13:45 GMT, the price dropped to $ 49,080.30.
Bitcoin has been growing rapidly since March, when itsthe price was $ 5,000, aided by the online payment service PayPal, which said it would allow account holders to use the cryptocurrency. Last week, the bitcoin price surpassed $ 45,000 after electric car maker Elon Musk, Tesla, invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoins. As an added incentive, Tesla also announced plans to accept cryptocurrency from customers buying its cars.
BNY Mellon also announced plans to accept digital currency.
As additional legitimacy, Twitter chief Jack Dorsey said last week that he and rap tycoon Jay-Z are setting up a fund aimed at making bitcoin the "currency of the internet."
Bitcoin, which launched back in 2009,hit the headlines in 2017 after rising in value from $ 1,000 to $ 20,000 in less than a year. The virtual bubble then burst in the following days and bitcoin's value fluctuated wildly before dropping below $ 5,000 by October 2018. However, according to experts, increased corporate support changed the currency's outlook this time around.
“The growing corporate support for cryptocurrency is very different from what it was in 2017,” concludes Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson in an interview with AFP.
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