Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
- Bitcoin hit the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold for the second time early Tuesday, climbing to a two-week high.
- Bitcoin was trading above the $54,000 mark Wednesday morning.
- Ether is also seeing a rally as the community prepares for an upgrade in April.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell
Bitcoin hit a $1 trillion market capitalization for the second time early Tuesday as the price of the world's most popular cryptocurrency rallied to a two-week high.
The cryptocurrency climbed above the $54,000-level early Tuesday as institutional support for bitcoin continues to climb steadily, shrugging off concerns about its volatility.
"The exuberance that propelled stocks upwards in the past decade appears to be favoring cryptocurrency," said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex. "The interesting thing is that bitcoin was invented against a backdrop of massive stimulus measures that fueled asset prices."
On Monday, Norway's Aker ASA, a $6 billion industrial holding company that controls construction and oil services companies, said that it set up a unit dedicated to investing in bitcoin and blockchain technology. The unit, called Seetee AS, is initially capitalized with around $58.6 million.
"Bitcoin may still go to zero. But it can also become the core of a new monetary architecture," Aker ASA chairman Kjell Inge Rokke said in a shareholder letter. Rokke, Norway's second-richest person, also said that bitcoin could one day "be worth millions of dollars."
NYDIG, a provider of bitcoin technology solutions, also announced on Monday that it raised $200 million from investors such Stone Ridge Holdings Group, Morgan Stanley, New York Life, MassMutual, and Soros Fund Management. The capital will be used for bitcoin-related initiatives that span from clean energy to philanthropy.
Bitcoin first hit the $1 trillion market capitalization milestone on February 19. On that day, it traded at $53,038.
In February, major firms from Tesla to Mastercard announced investments or new support for the cryptocurrency.
Apart from bitcoin, ether also is seeing a rally as the community prepares for an upgrade that will change how transactions work and start to destroy coins.
Chinese app maker Meitu on Sunday announced purchases of ether and bitcoin, CNBC reported, helping boost the prices of both cryptocurrencies.
"Bitcoin reclaimed the$50,000-level after the US passed the stimulus bill, and on the back of MicroStrategy and Meitu purchasing bitcoin," said Annabelle Huang, Head GlobalX Center at Amber Group. "However, concerns from the macro world around rates and [US Dollar Index] have sent equities across the board down, threatening crypto once again."