Bitcoin’s market value topped $ 1 billion on Friday as the world’s largest cryptocurrency continued its astonishing rise.
The milestone came as the price of a bitcoin rose to a new all-time high of $ 54,827.69 shortly before noon, up 5.6 percent from the previous day, according to the CoinDesk data.
This means that Bitcoin is now worth more than all but a handful of listed companies in the world, and accounts for about 61 percent of the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
The value of Bitcoin has risen more than 82% since the beginning of this year, as a growing number of institutional investors and major companies began to treat it as a major asset.
Digital currency gained momentum on Friday from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said it was “a less silly form of liquidity than cash.” Its electric car maker announced last week that it had bought $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and planned to accept the cryptocurrency as payment.
Tesla is not alone: Mastercard has said it expects to support certain cryptocurrency transactions on its network this year and BNY Mellon, the country’s oldest bank, recently announced it would begin providing banking services for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. .