Bitcoin rockets to record high of $48,000 after Elon Musk’s Tesla buys up $1.5 billion – with one backer saying the price could hit $100,000 this year

  • Date: 09-Feb-2021
  • Source: Business Insider
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Middle East
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Bitcoin rockets to record high of $48,000 after Elon Musk’s Tesla buys up $1.5 billion – with one backer saying the price could hit $100,000 this year

The bitcoin price jumped to an all-time high of above $48,000 on Tuesday, after Elon Musk's Tesla said it had bought up $1.5 billion of the world's biggest cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin then slipped back slightly, but was up 15.7% to $45,694 as of 6am ET. One major backer said he saw the price rising to $100,000 by the end of the year.

Musk's electric car company Tesla caused a stampede into the digital currency on Monday, when it revealed it had bought up $1.5 billion of bitcoin in January. Tesla also said it planned to start accepting bitcoin as payment.

The rally continued on Tuesday morning, meaning bitcoin had risen by roughly 1,000% since its March 2020 low of around $4,000.

Read More: UBS says bitcoin is a bubble and too volatile to diversify a portfolio, unlike gold - here's why the bank says it could end up 'worthless'

Michael Novogratz told Bloomberg TV on Monday that he thought bitcoin would more than double to $100,000 by the end of 2021, as big-name firms get behind the currency.

"You're going to see every company in America do the same thing [as Tesla]," Novogratz, the founder of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital, told Bloomberg.

"One of the things that connect