The world's most valuable digital currency has smashed another all-time high. Bitcoin is trading above $9,700 on Monday on growing signs of mainstream adoption.
The latest surge has been attributed to increased investor interest around the US Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday shopping. "The move appears to be retail driven," said Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM, which runs a digital assets strategy.
The largest US bitcoin exchange, Coinbase, added about 100,000 accounts before the weekend — to a total of 13.1 million, according to public data available on its website.
The price of bitcoin has jumped nearly nine times in value this year amid increased interest from institutional investors. The world's largest futures exchange, CME, is planning to list bitcoin futures in December.
The world's most popular virtual currency was trading at $9,774 as of 8:34am GMT on Monday. Bitcoin's market capitalization has now surpassed $163 billion.