SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Bitcoin withdrew from the record high on Monday and other cryptocurrencies fell as investors took advantage of a record rally that had pushed Bitcoin close to $ 50,000.
Bitcoin fell to 5.6%, to $ 45,914 in Asian trading hours, after posting a record high of $ 49,714.66 on Sunday, while rival cryptocurrency fell more than 8%.
Once on the brink of finance, bitcoin is rapidly gaining legitimacy as an asset class and has jumped 20% a week since electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. announced it had $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin and would accept the currency as payment.
It has risen more than 60% over the year and gained more than 1,100% since it marked a one-year low last March.
“There’s this wave without big-player (buying) players that has continued to raise the price,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne broker Pepperstone. “We may be seeing one or two big funds just charging,” he said.
“The big question is: Okay, you want to buy the kickback, but how much is the kickback we’re talking about?”
In addition to Tesla’s investment, Bank of NY Mellon said last week that it formed a new unit to help customers own and trade digital assets.
Bloomberg reported Saturday that Morgan Stanley’s investing arm is weighing a bet on bitcoin.
Reports by Tom Westbrook; Edited by Kim Coghill and Sam Holmes