<p><img src="https://static5.businessinsider.com/image/602f9cbd7b571500189f6396-2400/GettyImages-1230435174.jpg" border="0" alt="GettyImages 1230435174" data-mce-source="NurPhoto/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="The bitcoin price had risen around 80% in 2021 as of Friday"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><ul class="summary-list"><li>Bitcoin hit a new high of close to $53,000 on Friday morning.</li><li>The cryptocurrency's year-to-date gains hit 80% and its market capitalization neared $1 trillion.</li><li>Interest from big-name firms such as Tesla and BlackRock has powered the stunning rally.</li><li><strong><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell&hash=8122c716833601fc1471f79af063b104'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>Bitcoin scaled new heights above $52,800 on Friday morning, taking its year-to-date gains to 80% as the breakneck rally powered ahead.</p><p>The price increase took bitcoin's market capitalization to within touching distance of $1 trillion, at more than $980 billion. The world's biggest cryptocurrency has added more than $400 billion of value just in 2021.</p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin (BTC)</a> traded at $52,657 as of 6.10 a.m. ET, having risen around 2.3% over the previous 24 hours. It earlier touched a high of $52,899 on the Coinbase exchange.</p><p>Elon Musk's Tesla triggered the latest climb higher, after it revealed earlier in February that it had <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/tesla-buys-bitcoin-elon-musk-stock-accept-form-of-payment-2021-2-1030055107'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest">bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin</a> in January and intended to accept it as payment.</p><p>Musk on Thursday night <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/elon-musk-defends-tesla-bitcoin-bet-safer-than-dogecoin-binance-2021-2-1030100793">defended Tesla's move</a>, calling bitcoin "a less dumb form of liquidity than cash." He <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1362600676174557186's=20">tweeted</a>: "When fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn't look elsewhere."</p><p>Underlying the rally, analysts say, are the huge amounts of stimulus governments and central banks have funneled into economies during the coronavirus crisis which have lifted nearly all markets.</p><p>Many BTC advocates expect inflation, and say the cryptocurrency is a good asset to hold if price rises start eroding the purchasing power of the dollar.</p><p>Some other big-name companies have started to sniff around bitcoin in recent weeks, adding legitimacy to the rally.</p><p>BlackRock has authorized two of its funds to invest in bitcoin futures. On Thursday, the asset manager's investment chief Rick Rieder <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/17/blackrock-has-started-to-dabble-in-bitcoin-says-rick-rieder.html">told CNBC</a> that BTC was <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/blackrock-begun-dabble-bitcoin-investors-hunting-value-boss-rick-rieder-2021-2-1030096330">increasingly attractive to many investors.</a></p><p>"People are looking for places that could appreciate under the assumption that inflation moves higher and that debts are building, so we've started to dabble a bit into it," he added.</p><p>Yet not everyone is convinced. NYU economist Nouriel Roubini on Wednesday <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-02-17/flintstones-had-better-monetary-system-than-bitcoin-roubini-video'sref=DcmEtLPy">told Bloomberg</a> that he thinks bitcoin "is a bubble."</p><p>He said: "Fundamentally, bitcoin is not a currency. It's not a unit of account, it's not a scalable means of payment, and it's not a stable store of value." He said that "the Flintstones had a better monetary system than bitcoin."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-record-high-btc-cryptocurrency-market-cap-1-trillion-2021-2#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/london-streets-left-deserted-during-covid-19-lockdown-2020-3">Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown</a></p>
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