Investing.com - The price of the digital currency Bitcoin rose above the $4,200 level on Monday for the first time in its nine-year history.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin hit a high of $4,233.0. It was last at $4,211.4, up $152.1 or 3.75%.
Bitcoin has more than quadrupled in value so far this year and has gained around 47% in August. The surge means that the total market cap of Bitcoin has now risen to around $69 million.
Bitcoin has rallied to a series of record highs in recent sessions amid optimism that faster transactions times will speed up the spread of the cryptocurrency.
New software called Segregated Witness, or SegWit was successfully adopted by the blockchain supporting Bitcoin last week. The SegWit rollout is seen as a milestone for Bitcoin.
The software was developed as a solution to the cryptocurrency’s scaling problem, which led to a split or so-called ‘hard fork’ on August 1 when the blockchain supporting Bitcoin split into two, creating Bitcoin Cash.
Bitcoin received an additional boost after Goldman Sachs said in a report last week that it is becoming more difficult for institutional investors to ignore the rise of cryptocurrencies.
“Whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are), real dollars are at work here and warrant watching,” Goldman said.
Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, Ethereum, Bitcoin’s closest rival in terms of market cap, rose 2.89% or $8.47 to $301.29.
Bitcoin Cash, the newly created offshoot of Bitcoin, was down 1.85% at $302.0, while Ripple was up 2.18% at 17 cents.
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