The price of bitcoin has breached past the $33,000 mark for the first time ever, moments after hitting the $30,000 level Saturday, an aggressive start to usher in the new year after an impressive 2020, according to CNA and other crypto news, Sunday.
The world's most popular digital currency rallied over 300 percent last year, and with its latest run, it has added over 50 percent since reaching $20,000 just two weeks earlier. On Nov. 30, the crypto hit an almost-three-year-old peak of $19,794. By the close of Dec. 31, bitcoin had advanced around $10,000.
Boosting the record-run is an increasing narrative that the virtual money represents a form of "electronic gold," along with a host of big investors drawn into the digital currency. Among them: Anthony Scaramucci's Skybridge Capital with $182 million; MassMutual with $100 million; and Guggenheim, with over 10 percent of its $5 billion macro fund.
Bitcoin has only been around for 10 years or so. Last year, it saw demand skyrocket from U.S. investors, attracted by its perceived inflation-hedging attributes and projections it would emerge as a mainstream form of payment.
Bitcoin's price started to rally at the end of October last year, courtesy of the rollout of an acquisition, sale, and payment service for the currency from U.S. company, PayPal.
PayPal has collaborated with Paxos, a New York-chartered trust company, to provide electronic currency trading and custodial services.
The crypto's value has extreme ups and downs. In 2017, Bitcoin set off with a value of just under $1,000. Between November and December of the same year, its price ballooned. In the course of 2018, the digital money dropped again, hitting just more than $3,000.
Bitcoin could also be gaining from money being moved out of the XRP Token and so-called digital privacy coins facing regulatory obstacles.
As of late Saturday, Bitcoin was just 10 percent higher at $32,504, which means it now has a market capitalization of over $600 billion.
This places the virtual currency among the biggest global assets in the globe behind major U.S. companies like Apple Inc, Facebook, and Tesla. Last week Bitcoin barreled past Visa, making it the biggest financial service in the world.
Bitcoin has also ascended up the ranks of the most valuable currencies in the world, surpassing Saudi Arabia's riyal into 17th place, just behind Mexico's peso.
