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The value of the cryptocurrency market topped $1 trillion for the first time Thursday as Bitcoin surged to yet another record high.
The world’s biggest digital coin made its first climb past the $39,000 mark to a peak of $39,231.40, a roughly 12 percent gain from a day earlier, CoinDesk data show.
That helped drive the combined market value of all cryptocurrencies up nearly 11 percent to $1.05 trillion, according to CryptoMarketCap.com, which tracks hundreds of digital tokens.
Bitcoin alone accounts for the vast majority of that total with a market capitalization of about $726 billion, the site says.
Smaller coins also saw strong gains Thursday — Etherium, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was recently up 8.2 percent at $1,248.19, while XRP surged nearly 36 percent to about 34 cents, according to CoinDesk.
Once a fascination of amateur retail traders, Bitcoin has been on a record-breaking tear in recent months as it gained traction among institutional investors.
The cryptocurrency has been buoyed by perceptions that it’s a good way to protect against inflation. JPMorgan Chase analysts have said Bitcoin could even become an alternative to gold — which could eventually drive its price up to $146,000.
There are also hopes that Bitcoin will become a more widely used payment method, with mainstream digital payments firms such as PayPal and Square allowing Bitcoin on their platforms.
Square bought $50 million worth of Bitcoin in October, and CEO Jack Dorsey — who also leads Twitter — published an open letter this week slamming a federal proposal that would force the company to more carefully track cryptocurrency transactions.
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