The price of bitcoin has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high on Monday.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion.
Bitcoin has been on a steady march higher for the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class.
“We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don’t have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it’s a new asset class,” Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone.
