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Bitcoin rises above US$20,000 for first time after sustained rally
- Just 12 years old, bitcoin reached a record-high of US$20,398.50 before pulling back to US$20,145 on Wednesday
- It has seen a meteoric rise since March, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying it would enable account holders to use cryptocurrency
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Leading virtual currency bitcoin on Wednesday traded above US$20,000 for the first time following a sustained run higher in recent weeks.
Just 12 years old, bitcoin reached a record-high US$20,398.50 before pulling back to US$20,145, which was still an intraday gain of nearly 4 per cent.
It has seen a meteoric rise since March, when it stood at US$5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying it would enable account holders to use cryptocurrency.
A number of central banks have meanwhile responded to the rise of cryptocurrencies and the dwindling global use of cash by announcing plans for bank-backed digital units.
Several central banks including those of China and Sweden – but also the US Federal Reserve – are also testing digital applications in response to Facebook’s recent moves to produce its own digital unit, Libra.
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