Bitcoin hit a two-year high above US$57 000 in Asia trade on Tuesday — and a record high in rand terms — on signs of heavy institutional buying, while smaller rival ether topped $3 200 for the first time in two years.

Bitcoin has rallied more than 10% in two sessions, helped by a Monday disclosure from crypto investor and software firm MicroStrategy that it had recently purchased about 3 000 bitcoins for an outlay of $155-million.

The original and largest cryptocurrency by market value has also been buoyed recently by the approval of bitcoin-owning exchange-traded funds in the US. On Monday, trading volumes in several of the funds spiked and crypto-linked firms rallied, too, in contrast to nervous broader markets.

Read: Bitcoin spot ETFs could be headed to South Africa in 2024

In the small hours of Tuesday morning, bitcoin was changing hands just shy of R1.1-million/coin, a new record high in local currency terms.  — Tom Westbrook, (c) 2024 Reuters, with additional reporting (c) 2024 NewsCentral Media

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