Bitcoin tops $50,000 as BofA says crypto ‘too large to ignore’

Bitcoin rallied above $50,000 as Bank of America Corp. strategists threw their weight behind crypto as a new asset class.

The rally brings prices to the highest since early September, when El Salvador rolled out the cryptocurrency as legal tender. Bitcoin was up 2.5% in early New York trading, and earlier touched $50,307.

The universe of digital assets is “too large to ignore,” wrote strategists including Alkesh Shah and Jessica Reif Ehrlich. “Our view is that there could be more opportunity than skeptics expect.”

The Bank of America report shows that enthusiasm for crypto is gaining traction on Wall Street despite its many controversies.