Bitcoin soared to the highest level in a year, extending a run that has seen prices more than double since March.
The largest cryptocurrency climbed as much as 10 per cent on Monday and was trading at $8,847 as of 10:25 am in Tokyo. Rival coins were also stronger at the start of the week. Litecoin added almost nine per cent and Ether, the second largest digital token, rose six per cent.
Crypto proponents are taking encouragement from a string of recent headlines showing greater interest in the space from mainstream firms. Fidelity Investments is finalizing plans to buy and sell the digital asset for institutional customers, and E-Trade Financial Corp is poised to allow crypto trading. AT&T Inc said it will permit customers to use payment processor BitPay to settle their online bills.
Bitcoin is up almost 70 per cent this month despite concerns from JPMorgan Chase and Co strategists that its price may have surged beyond its intrinsic value -- a concept that not all agree applies to a digital currency.
Easier to spend means a greater-use case and a greater level of adoption, Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, wrote in a note Friday. “The tipping point is likely very close now,” Greenspan added.