Bitcoin soars to record high; year's gain 500%

Bitcoin's epic run, which dwarfs the US Dow Jones stock index's own impressive run-up of 17 per cent this year, is defying repeated warnings from big banks and policymakers, who have called it a "fraud" and a "bubble". PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

Bitcoin smashed through another milestone over the weekend with a single unit of the digital currency breaching US$6,000 (S$8,168) for the first time, putting its gain this year to more than 500 per cent.

Bitcoin's epic run, which dwarfs the US Dow Jones stock index's own impressive run-up of 17 per cent this year, is defying repeated warnings from big banks and policymakers, who have called it a "fraud" and a "bubble". The cryptocurrencyhit a total market value of around US$100 billion, on a par with or above US blue-chip companies.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 23, 2017, with the headline Bitcoin soars to record high; year's gain 500%. Subscribe