Bitcoin continued its recent climb by topping $1,700 for the first time on Tuesday despite several obstacles that should have slowed it down in recent months.
The cryptocurrency hit $1,758.45 a coin, up 5.71 percent for the current session and 50 percent over the current run, Business Insider reported.
There was no obvious reason for the gain; in fact, bitcoin has suffered setbacks in recent months that should have slowed it down rather than fostered growth: The SEC rejected two bitcoin ETFs in March and China has restricted its trade. The developers of the coin also have threatened to split it in two.
Despite these obstacles, bitcoin continues to make progress as a world currency, with Japan announcing bitcoin would be considered a legal payment method there in April, and Russia saying it would consider making the currency legal there in 2018, BI reported.
In addition to hitting new highs, bitcoin also added $1 billion in market cap in under 24 hours, Time reported. The unusual currency may be thriving because of growing global economic uncertainty and because of artificially manipulated factors that may be holding down prices of gold and other precious metals.
This time last year, one bitcoin was worth about $450. Although bitcoin has risen over 400 percent since then, it also has been five times more volatile than more traditional investments such as the stock market, and is considered by many an “extremely risky investment,” Time reported.
Twitter investors vacillated between beating themselves up for not getting in on bitcoin when it was much lower and congratulating themselves on predicting its rise.