Bitcoin soars above $23,000 as more Wall Street firms pile in

Bitcoin breached $23,000 for the first time in history as more Wall Street names crowd into the world’s largest digital currency up 220% this year.

As momentum builds, analysts predict more gains ahead.

The digital coin jumped more than 9% on Thursday, touching a high of $23,256.92, according to a composite of prices compiled by Bloomberg. Bitcoin and the wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index have both more than tripled this year. Cryptocurrency-linked stocks in South Korea, Japan and China climbed.

The rally in digital assets is polarizing opinion, given Bitcoin’s history of boom and bust. Proponents argue the cryptocurrency is muscling in on gold as a portfolio diversifier amid dollar weakness and potential inflationary pressure.