Bitcoin tops $50,000 as it wins more mainstream acceptance

Bitcoin rose above $50,000 on Tuesday for the first time, adding steam to a rally fuelled by signs that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency is gaining acceptance among mainstream investors and companies.

Bitcoin hit a record $50,603 and was last up 0.83% at $48,351. It has risen around 67% so far this year, with most of the gains coming after electric carmaker Tesla said it had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin.

The move by Tesla, which also said it would accept bitcoin as payment, was the latest in a string of large investments that have vaulted bitcoin from the fringes of finance to company balance sheets and Wall Street, with U.S. firms and traditional money managers starting to buy the coin.