Bitcoin hits $ 1 trillion in market worth as cryptocurrency continues to surge

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Bitcoin price passed another major milestone on Friday as the cryptocurrency’s market value surpassed $ 1 trillion, according to Coindesk.

The digital currency was trading at just under $ 54,000 per coin on Friday when it hit the new level and rose to a high of $ 54,880 later in the session, according to Coin Metrics. The price of Bitcoin has increased by around 350% in the past six months. Before its recent surge, the digital asset never traded above $ 20,000.

The move was driven in part by the increased adoption of Bitcoin by major investors and corporations. The oldest bank in the United States, the Bank of New York Mellon, announced earlier this month that it would be moving into space. Elon Musk’s Tesla converted part of its balance sheet money into Bitcoin earlier this year and announced that it would accept the digital tokens as a means of payment.

Bitcoin “has started to get so big that it is arguably creating its own demand as companies and institutions begin to move into an area they would not have touched a few months earlier,” said Deutsche Bank research strategist Jim Reid , in a note. “Ironically, it is turning into a credible asset class for many by rebounding so much lately and also increasing institutional buy-in.”

The market value is calculated by multiplying the Bitcoin price by the number created. While this is not a perfect comparison, its market value of $ 1 trillion would make Bitcoin’s value higher than all but a handful of stocks in the world. For example, Tesla has a market capitalization of around $ 700 billion, while Apple is valued at more than $ 2 trillion.

Pro-Bitcoin investors and entrepreneurs celebrated the milestone on social media.

“From the white paper to $ 1 trillion. #Bitcoin eats gold alive,” Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss said on Twitter.

“RIP bears,” tweeted Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital Assets.

Of course, not everyone on Wall Street was convinced of Bitcoin’s future prospects. Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin said Friday he was not interested in cryptocurrency while researchers at JPMorgan said Bitcoin’s rally was unsustainable.