Bitcoin Passes $60,000 For First Time

Bitcoin briefly rose above $60,000 for the first time on
Saturday, as increasing backing from corporate heavyweights helps
the world’s most popular virtual currency continue its
record-breaking run.

The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $60,012, according to
the website CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin has been on a meteoric rise since March last year, when
it stood at $5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying
it would allow account holders to use cryptocurrency.

Last month Elon Musk’s electric carmaker Tesla invested $1.5
billion in the virtual unit, while Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and
rap mogul Jay-Z said they are creating a fund aimed at making
Bitcoin “the internet’s currency”.

Others jumping on the bandwagon include Wall Street player BNY
Mellon, investment fund giant BlackRock and credit card titan
Mastercard.

Bitcoin, which was launched back in 2009, hit the headlines in
2017 after soaring from less than $1,000 in January to almost
$20,000 in December of the same year.

The virtual bubble then burst in subsequent days, with bitcoin’s
value then fluctuating wildly before sinking below $5,000 by
October 2018.

However the last year’s rise has been more steady, with
investors and Wall Street finance giants wooed by dizzying growth,
the opportunity for profit and asset diversification, and a safe
store of value to guard against inflation.

Bitcoins are traded via a decentralised registry system known as
a blockchain.

The system requires massive computer processing power in order
to manage and implement transactions.

That power is provided by “miners”, who do so in the hope they
will receive new bitcoins for validating transaction data.

Bitcoin briefly rose above $60,000 for the first time on
Saturday, as increasing backing from corporate heavyweights helps
the world’s most popular virtual currency continue its
record-breaking run.

The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $60,012, according to
the website CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin has been on a meteoric rise since March last year, when
it stood at $5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying
it would allow account holders to use cryptocurrency.

Last month Elon Musk’s electric carmaker Tesla invested $1.5
billion in the virtual unit, while Twitter chief Jack Dorsey and
rap mogul Jay-Z said they are creating a fund aimed at making
Bitcoin “the internet’s currency”.

Others jumping on the bandwagon include Wall Street player BNY
Mellon, investment fund giant BlackRock and credit card titan
Mastercard.

Bitcoin, which was launched back in 2009, hit the headlines in
2017 after soaring from less than $1,000 in January to almost
$20,000 in December of the same year.

The virtual bubble then burst in subsequent days, with bitcoin’s
value then fluctuating wildly before sinking below $5,000 by
October 2018.

However the last year’s rise has been more steady, with
investors and Wall Street finance giants wooed by dizzying growth,
the opportunity for profit and asset diversification, and a safe
store of value to guard against inflation.

Bitcoins are traded via a decentralised registry system known as
a blockchain.

The system requires massive computer processing power in order
to manage and implement transactions.

That power is provided by “miners”, who do so in the hope they
will receive new bitcoins for validating transaction data.