Bitcoin Breaks $50,000

Jay Z, Jack Dorsey, and Elon Musk walk into a bar…and they pay in bitcoin. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise us if this actually happened once bars become a thing again.

Trend-setter, record-breaker

Yesterday morning, bitcoin surpassed the $50,000 mark, a first for the cryptocurrency. At time of writing, it hovered around $51,320.

What pushed bitcoin over the historic edge? Some view it as a hedge against potential inflation. But importantly, more traditional institutions and high-profile figures than ever have thrown their weight behind bitcoin in recent weeks.

• Jay Z and Jack Dorsey will put 500 bitcoin ($23+ million) into an endowment for bitcoin development, initially focused on Africa and India.
• After purchasing $1.5 billion in bitcoin, Tesla will become the first automaker to accept it as payment. Uber is considering doing the same.
• Mastercard will begin supporting crypto transactions in 2021, and BNY Mellon, the world’s largest custodian bank, plans to start holding, transferring, and issuing crypto this year.

Big picture: Since it’s often looked to as an indicator of public opinion on crypto and decentralized tech, bitcoin’s rise is buoying some other digital currencies.