Bitcoin’s soaring price pushed the oldest and best-known cryptocurrency above the $50,000 mark for the first time in its history on Tuesday. Bitcoin marked a high of 50,602 dollars (41,720 euros) on the Bitstamp trading platform. In the evening, the price then stood at just under 49,000 dollars.
Meanwhile, the value of all Bitcoins in circulation is approaching the $1 trillion mark. On Tuesday, BTC capitalization measured at a high of $927 billion on the website Coinmarketcap. All nearly 8,500 digital currencies are worth about $1.5 trillion, according to the report.
Bitcoin has been soaring for weeks and months, accelerating recently. Since Christmas alone, the price has more than doubled. It has even quintupled since late summer. The share price was recently boosted above all by Tesla, the manufacturer of electric cars. The company says it has invested billions in Bitcoin and intends to accept the digital currency as a means of payment in the future. That raises the hope that other companies could follow suit, which would increase the acceptance of Bitcoin.
Raj Dhamodharan, responsible for digital assets at Mastercard, had written in a blog last week that the group wanted to allow transactions with selected cryptocurrencies. Besides, he said, the company is in close contact with central banks working on their digital currencies.
And more and more professional investors are also eyeing digital currency. As the Bloomberg news agency reported over the weekend, citing people familiar with the matter, US bank Morgan Stanley’s investment arm focused on growth stocks is also considering adding bitcoin to its list of possible investments.
However, the cryptocurrency boom is also fueled by the money glut of central banks and major industrialized countries. In the Corona crisis, central banks have made their already loose monetary policy even more generous.
Governments are propping up consumers and companies through high spending, causing government debt burdens to rise sharply. This development could result in increased inflation, which would devalue traditional currencies. Some investors are therefore increasingly asking for alternative investments such as digital currencies.