Bitcoin hit a new all-time high at just $ 60 below the $ 50,000 threshold on Tuesday, extending the accelerating rally sparked by major investors taking the cryptocurrency seriously.
* The first and most famous digital currency hit $ 49,938 earlier in the day and has gained nearly 70% so far this year, in large part after electric car maker Tesla said it would buy $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and that he would accept the currency as payment for his cars.
* Tesla’s decision was the latest in a series of heavy investments that pulled bitcoin out of finance margins onto company balance sheets and on Wall Street trading desks as firms and traders have started demanding cryptocurrencies.
* Bitcoin, which was worth almost nothing a decade ago when its developer Laszlo Hanyecz paid for 2 pizzas with 10,000 bitcoin, surpassed $ 20,000 in mid-September, but until now it has not been so easy to reach $ 50,000 after several attempts .
“Bitcoin has been in an established range for the past four to five days, which suggests there is a time of consolidation or stagnation,” said Justin d’Anethan, digital markets asset manager at Diginex in Hong Kong.
* Bitcoin traded close to its record high of $ 49,045 while its rival, Ethereum, was also very close to its all-time high of $ 1,879 last week.
* PayPal is allowing its clients to use bitcoin among its associated merchants and Mastercard is preparing to follow suit, in movements that generate both opportunity and risk.