Bitcoin Hits Record High of $62,575

Bitcoin hit a record of $62,575 (roughly Rs. 47 lakhs) on Tuesday, extending its 2021 rally to new heights. The world's biggest cryptocurrency has more than doubled in price this year amid growing mainstream acceptance as an investment and a means of payment, and as investors seek high-yielding assets amid low interest rates.

Major firms including BNY Mellon, Mastercard, and Tesla are among those to have embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.

Tesla chief Elon Musk recently announced that the company's electric vehicles can now be bought using Bitcoin and the option will be available outside the US later this year.

Musk, who has been promoting cryptocurrencies through his Twitter account, had in February criticised conventional cash, saying when it "has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn't look elsewhere."

PayPal in March announced that it has started allowing US consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of its online merchants globally, a move that could significantly boost use of digital assets in everyday commerce.

Customers who hold Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin cash, and Litecoin in PayPal digital wallets will now be able to convert their holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts to make purchases, the company said.

"This is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your PayPal wallet," President and CEO Dan Schulman told Reuters ahead of a formal announcement.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

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