Bitcoin’s market value soared past $ 1 trillion on Friday as the world’s largest cryptocurrency continued its dizzying rally.
The milestone came when the price of a single bitcoin rose to a new high of $ 54,827.69 shortly before noon, representing an increase of about 5.6 percent from the day before, CoinDesk data shows.
That means that bitcoin is now worth more than all public companies except a handful, and accounts for about 61 percent of the combined value of all cryptocurrencies in circulation, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Bitcoin’s value has risen more than 82 percent since the beginning of this year as a growing number of institutional investors and large companies began to treat it as a regular asset.
The digital currency got a boost on Friday from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said it was “less stupid form of liquidity than cash.” Its electric carmaker announced last week that it had purchased $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and planned to accept the cryptocurrency as payment.
Tesla isn’t alone – Mastercard has said it expects to support certain crypto transactions on its network this year, and BNY Mellon, the country’s oldest bank, recently announced that it will offer banking services for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.