Bitcoin smashes new all-time high of $8,200

20 Nov, 2017 14:35 / Updated 7 years ago

The world's most popular cryptocurrency has surpassed $8,200 on Monday, setting another record high. Bitcoin is up almost 850 percent this year.

November has been an extremely volatile month for bitcoin. Earlier this month, the digital currency price fell to $5,500 after developers scrapped the SegWit2X update, leading some miners and investors to shift to offshoot bitcoin cash.

However, bitcoin returned to growth on news that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange would start trading futures on the digital currency.

The cryptocurrencies have also been boosted by interest from institutional investors. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have said they are researching cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology that underlies them and may add them to their portfolio.

In addition to the skyrocketing price of bitcoin, the total money transferred on the network per day has seen a 1000 percent surge this year and now totals $2 billion.

Bitcoin started the year just above $1,000, and the overall growth now is approaching 850 percent. The cryptocurrency’s market capitalization has reached $137 billion. That makes bitcoin more valuable than major corporations like Siemens, Mastercard, British American Tobacco or McDonald's.