Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – The value of the cryptocurrency “Bitcoin” approached $ 50,000 on Sunday, continuing its stunning rise this year, which increased its value by nearly $ 20,000.
The digital currency hit a record high of $ 49,714.66 on Sunday, before retreating slightly, yet it is still up about 4% over the past 24 hours.
Investors sent Bitcoin prices skyrocketing during the pandemic, as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to near zero in March 2020 – and is expected to keep them that way for several more years – severely weakening the US dollar.
This has made Bitcoin a relatively attractive currency, as there is a certain limit to the number of Bitcoins on the planet, and investors believe that once the supply runs out, the value of the digital currency will rise.
As Bitcoin rose to an all-time high, large brand-owned investors are storing it, for huge consumer companies to adopt, which in turn helped its value rise.
Tesla, the most valuable car company in the stock market, said last week that it may soon accept the digital currency as payment for its cars, adding that it is keeping some of its cash in bitcoin instead of the traditional currency.
On Wednesday, MasterCard announced that it will support “specific digital currencies” directly on its network later this year. This represents a major milestone for Bitcoin, as “Square” and “PayPal” recently began allowing customers to trade Bitcoin, but “MasterCard” will be the main and most popular Bitcoin platform to date.
All of this adds a dose of viability and appeal to cryptocurrencies for ordinary investors. For example, a senior BlackRock executive said last year that Bitcoin could someday replace gold, while rapper Jay-Z and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced Friday that they will establish Bitcoin development fund.
Bitcoin’s value crossed the $ 20,000 mark for the first time in December, and it has more than doubled in value within 3 months.
