The price of Bitcoin surpassed $58,000 over the weekend, a new record high which came just days after its market capitalisation surpassed $1 trillion.
The cryptocurrency, which has backers including Tesla chief Elon Musk, has almost tripled in value over the past three months.
Its rally has been driven by growing acceptance among institutional investors. Earlier this month, America’s oldest bank, BNY Mellon, said it would start transacting Bitcoin for clients.
Musk has branded Bitcoin “less dumb” than cash, although over the weekend said its price did “seem high”. His electric car company Tesla last month made a $1.5bn investment into Bitcoin, with analysts estimating that since then, the company has made a $1bn profit on that investment.
Dan Ives, Wedbush analyst, said the company was “on a trajectory to make more from its Bitcoin investments than profits from selling its EV (electric vehicle) cars in all of 2020”.