02/19/2021 8:43 AM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 02/19/2021 10:32 AM
Bitcoin, the most widely used cryptocurrency, marked a new all-time high this Friday, the third of the week, and is already nearing the level of US $ 52,900.
The cryptocurrency touched $ 52,894, although it later lost steam and settled closer to $ 52,600, according to data from Bloomberg.
Thus, the first cryptocurrency is worth five times more than a year ago, and the set of bitcoins created since its launch in 2008 represents close to a trillion dollars.
Bitcoin surpassed US $ 49,000 last Sunday following the decision of the US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla to invest US $ 1.5 billion in this cryptocurrency.
The uptrend was accentuated
after payment media company Mastercard and bank BNY Mellon
announced that they will
allow the use of cryptocurrencies in their services
, allowing bitcoin to exceed $ 50,000 and $ 52,000, on Wednesday.
Ether, the second most widely used cryptocurrency, hit a new record at $ 1,949 on Thursday, and now stands at around $ 1,940.
However, bitcoin fails to clear up the doubts that generate its main weakness: the high volatility in its price.
Last year, after hitting its minimum (US $ 4,900), in December it stepped on the accelerator until it reached US $ 29,200.
Bitcoin
»In USD
It then kept climbing, amid steep ups and downs, deepening the rift between its drivers and critics.
For many analysts, bitcoin is a digital asset equivalent to gold whose purpose is to protect value.
While for others it is a speculative bubble around an asset with no intrinsic value.
However, they are closely observing the possibility that some central governments take measures to limit their use.
More specifically, days ago, the new Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, warned that in many cases, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are used for crime.