The cryptocurrency Bitcoin continued to soar on Tuesday, hitting the $48,000 mark, gaining a thousand dollars in value in a day, as it cost $47,000 on Monday.
As of 23:00 GTM on Monday, the cryptocurrency had risen to $45,000, and then, in less than an hour, Bitcoin appreciated by another $1,000 in about 15 minutes.
Another rapid leap in the cryptocurrency's price coincided with Tesla announcing that it had invested $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency in January.
Tesla updated its investment policy in January 2021, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The new policy suggests that the company should invest more capital in alternative reserve assets, such as digital assets, gold bars, exchange-traded funds, and others.
Experts from the cryptocurrency exchange Luno and the brokerage OSL, cited by Bloomberg, said earlier that Bitcoin’s cost may hit $50,000 in the long-term, as the currency appears set to take on gold in the competition for supremacy and best investment.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency based on a decentralised blockchain network. Launched in early 2009, the cryptocurrency is now considered the world's biggest by market capitalisation and the amount of data stored on its blockchain.