Bitcoin in for a penny in for a pound in new high

Bit coin hit a new record high yesterday after smashing through the $8,000(£6,043.6) level for the first time over the weekend, marking an almost 50 per cent climb in just eight days.

The new high came after leading American payments company Square Inc said late last week that it had started allowing select customers to buy and sell bitcoins on its Cash app.

Bit coin traded as high as $8,197.81 on the Luxembourg- based Bitstamp exchange BTC= BTSP, up more than 2 per cent on the day and around 48 per cent up since dipping to $ 5,555 on 12 November.

An eight fold increase in the value of the volatile cr yptocurrency since the start of the year has led to multiple warnings that the market is in a bubble, and institutional investors are broadly staying away.

Retail investors, however, as well as some hedge funds and family offices, are pi ling into the market. The “market cap” of all cryptocurrencies hit an alltime high of over $ 242 billion yesterday, said trade website Coinmarketcap.