Bitcoin hits $50,000 for the first time: Cryptocurrency continues to soar as mainstream appeal grows

 Bitcoin hit $50,000 for the first time as the cryptocurrency continued to enjoy explosive growth.

The milestone takes gains this year to 75 per cent, and it is up tenfold from its price of $5,000 last March.

The rally comes as the financial mainstream takes the asset class increasingly seriously. 

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Crypto boom: Bitcoin is up 75 per cent this year, and it is up tenfold from its price of $5,000 last March

Last week the currency climbed after Tesla invested £1.1billion in bitcoin, while the oldest bank in the US, BNY Mellon, confirmed it would invest for the first time.

There is even talk that US city Miami will pay its workers and accept fees for services in bitcoin. 

Tesla boss Elon Musk started a fashion among billionaires for putting ‘bitcoin’ in their Twitter handles. Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas has done the same.

Russ Mould, director at AJ Bell, said: ‘The more people that adapt it and use it as money, then the greater the chances of it perhaps being taken on board as a mainstream currency.’

But others urged caution and warned investors against joining the craze, saying that bitcoin has no intrinsic value. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and can crash as fast as they rise.