(Reuters) – Bitcoin hit a new record and approached $ 50,000 on Sunday, based on its historical record as Wall Street and Main Street increasingly adopt the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin recently stood at $ 48,700 on Sunday morning, up more than 3%. He had traded up to $ 49,714 before the day. The cryptocurrency has risen by almost 70% to date.
Having been shunned by traditional financial companies, bitcoin and other virtual currencies seem to be increasingly entering the mainstream as a vehicle for paying for assets and routines.
BNY Mellon said last week that it formed a new unit to help customers maintain, transfer and issue digital assets, just days after Elon Musk’s Tesla revealed it had bought $ 1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency and that soon l would accept as a form of payment for their cars. .
On Friday, the Ontario Securities Commission of Canada approved the launch of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, a Toronto-based asset management company, Purpose Investments Inc., said in a statement. The CSO confirmed that it had authorized the launch of the world’s first publicly traded fund in a statement to Reuters.
“America’s institutional and corporate side is proving that this movement will not go away any time soon,” said Edward Moya, OANDA’s senior market strategist. “There’s still a lot of money that’s going to jump on that cart.”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also said Friday that the city of Florida wants to adopt Bitcoin in its operations, a move that could generate dividends in terms of attracting tech companies.
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 toward traditional finance, though many banks are reluctant to participate.
Riot Blockchain, a cryptocurrency miner, rose 14% on Friday and peaked in more than 10 years with a weekly gain of 110%, its highest weekly gain since 2017. The digital asset technology company Marathon Patent Group showed a weekly gain of over 70%.
Reports of Fergal Smith in Toronto, David Randall in New York; Julien Ponthus in London, Karen Pierog in Chicago; Additional reports by Ira Iosebashvili; Written by Alden Bentley; Edited by Ira Iosebashvili and Lisa Shumaker