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Bitcoin swings continue after notching US$40,000 for first time

Click to play video: 'Police warn about bitcoin scam'
Police warn about bitcoin scam
Police are warning about a sophisticated new scam that convinces people to withdraw money from their personal accounts and deposit them in a bitcoin ATM. Anne Drewa reports – Dec 3, 2020

Bitcoin climbed to a record high Thursday, bringing the total market value of all cryptocurrencies above US$1 trillion for the first time, according to data by crypto coin trackers CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.

Bitcoin traded above US$40,000 briefly for the first time as governments increase spending to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus. This has raised fears about rising inflation and U.S. dollar debasement.

The cryptocurrency continued to fluctuate throughout the day.

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Bitcoin is gaining traction with more mainstream investors who are increasingly convinced that it will be a long-lasting asset, and not a speculative bubble as some analysts and investors fear.

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Sergey Nazarov, co-founder of Chainlink, a decentralized network that provides data to smart contracts on the blockchain, said that there is a “lack of faith in traditional institutions that is driving this large rally towards cryptoassets.”

“While outsiders may view the cryptocurrency industry being valued at over US$1 trillion as an incredibly significant milestone, in actuality our space is still in one of its very early stages of development and growth,” Nazarov said.

With files from globalnews.ca

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