Bitcoin value surges past $26,000 to set all-time record high  |  Photo Credit: Getty

World's most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin has surged to $26,000 level to set a new high, as per trading data. The cryptocurrency which first made its debut in 2011, reached the historic $20,000 mark in 2017. 

According to trading data on Binance which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Bitcoin was trading at USD 26,286.74, as of 20:45 GMT on Saturday.

According to CoinMarketCap, an aggregator that compiles data from more than 20 brokers, Bitcoin was trading at $26,270.96 as of 20:47 GMT, a rise of 7.36% over the preceding 24 hours, according to ANI. 

It crossed $27,000 mark on Binance early Sunday, making a new all-time high with a spike of 11% in the last 24 hours alone.  

Interestingly, Bitcoin hit $24,000 levels on December 24, reached $25,000 on December 25, $26,000 on December and then $27,000 on December 27.

The year of Bitcoin

Chris Woods of Jefferies believes that 2020 was the year of institutionalisation of Bitcoin. It became investible for institutions with custodian arrangements available and with prominent investors and indeed institutional investors declaring that they have bought it, he said earlier. 

It has now become part of the system with opportunities also for retail investors to buy into it via quoted vehicles, be it the Greyscale Bitcoin Trust in America or the recently launched VanEck Vectors Bitcoin ETN traded on the Frankfurt exchange. This is important since, before such arrangements were in place, there was always the risk that Bitcoin accounts could be hacked. The other risk, of course, was that Bitcoin would be declared illegal because it was used for nefarious purposes, such as illegal narcotics transactions, he further said.

Bitcoin, known for its wild swings and extreme volatility, has rallied like other asset classes as markets cheer new coronavirus vaccine candidates getting clearances by regulators. It has rallied over 200% year to date. 

In such a cheap-money-on-steroids market scenario, Bitcoin with its built-in mechanism to avoid inflationary pressures is turning out to be a darling for investors worldwide.

After a long wait of three years, the millennial cryptocurrency of choice has reached within attacking distance of its all-time high levels of $19,783 reached on December 17, 2017. It debuted at 0 in 2011.