Bitcoin hit a new record high and approached $50,000 on Sunday, building on its record rally as Wall Street and Main Street increasingly adopt the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin recently stood at $48,700 on Sunday morning, up more than 3%. It had traded as high as $49,714 earlier in the day. The cryptocurrency is up almost 70% year to date.
After long being shunned by traditional financial firms, bitcoin and other virtual currencies appear to be increasingly entering the mainstream as an asset and routine payment vehicle.
BNY Mellon said last week it formed a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets, just days after Elon Musk’s Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its cars.
In January, BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager, added bitcoin as an eligible investment to two funds.
Credit card giant Mastercard’s plans to offer support for some cryptocurrencies also boosted bitcoin’s ambitions towards mainstream finance, though many banks remain reluctant to engage with it.
Reference: CNBC
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