Bitcoin reached a record high of $34,800 January 3, on the 12th anniversary of the Bitcoin network being created.

The new high comes after the world’s most popular cryptocurrency surpassed $20,000, a key level, for the first time ever on December 16, 2020. 

The rise in the Bitcoin price reflects expectations that it will become a mainstream payment method, with PayPal now accepting crypto payments. 

The quick gain in price has attracted demand from larger US investors, as well as from traders who would normally stick to traditional equities.

Hedge fund managers Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones have backed Bitcoin as a financial asset, with Druckenmiller arguing that it could have “a lot of attraction as a store of value to both millennials and the new west coast money”.

Bitcoin has now surged around 800 per cent since mid-March 2020, with many commentators now considering it a safe-haven from the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, similar to gold.

However, a continued upward momentum is not without doubt.  In the past the coin has had a few rallies followed by significant crashes. During 2017, it rose from about $1,000 to peak over $19,000, before plunging to below $4,000 by the end of 2018.

Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency also rose to a record $1,014 on Sunday, January 3, gaining around 465 per cent this year.

FURTHER READING: The five best cryptocurrencies to invest in winter 2021