Iran Press/America: The weekend move pushed the world’s No. 1 digital asset to a fresh record mark of $49,716.44, according to CoinDesk, adding to a steady grind toward all-time highs as greater attention and more institutional investments in cryptos has provided a felicitous near-term backdrop for the virtual market.
Bitcoin’s BTCUSD, +5.27% momentum higher has driven it to a year-to-date gain of over 64%.
Although there is no specific news helping to extend gains for bitcoins, the rally comes as the asset appears to be gathering steam and increased attention among the traditional investment community. Over the weekend, Bloomberg News, citing people familiar, reported that a Morgan Stanley MS, +1.21% investment management unit, Counterpoint Global, was exploring buying cryptos for its investors.
That report comes after The Wall Street Journal earlier last week said that Bank of New York Mellon, BK would hold, transfer and issue bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on behalf of its clients.
"Digital assets are becoming part of the mainstream," Roman Regelman, chief executive of BNY Mellon’s asset-servicing and digital businesses, was quoted as telling WSJ.
On top of that, last Wednesday, Mastercard MA, -0.55% said it would support certain cryptocurrencies on its network later this year, and Tesla Inc. TSLA, +0.55% said it purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would eventually allow customers to use the cryptocurrency to purchase its products.
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