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Bitcoin (BTC) blasted above $40,000 on Thursday reaching a new all-time high and lifting the cryptocurrency market cap above $1 trillion for the first time. The BTC has surged 400% in 12 months.

BTC reached the new record-breaking level around 1:00 PM (UTC−5), that’s 8% higher from its price yesterday. Bitcoin's market value is above $700 billion, which was by huge investments from financial institutions including JPMorgan, Skybridge, and others.

Additionally, billionaires such as Chamath Palihapitiya and Ricardo Salinas Pliego expressed their bullish expectations on the cryptocurrency's price over the long-term.

JPMorgan recently predicted that the cryptocurrency can jump to a striking price of $146,000 if investors show more interest in it. However, analysts said to reach that level, investors who buy gold as a safe haven would need to invest in Bitcoin instead.  

Moreover, cryptocurrencies are now worth half as much as Apple, which is the world’s most valuable company. The cryptocurrency market cap went above $1 trillion, and it’s currently more valuable than the entire Swiss economy.

Bitcoin versus Gold

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts believe that the virtual token is “digital gold” and will soon become a safe haven asset, a hedge against inflation. JPMorgan called Bitcoin an alternative currency and the cryptocurrency is now competing with gold.

Simons Chen, executive director of investment and trading at Babel Finance, told CNBC: “This latest bull run in January is sure to attract the asset managers’ attention to diversify even more of their assets to crypto as they are keen on finding alternative investments, such as cryptocurrency or gold, to hedge inflation and geopolitical risk.”

 “A large number of retail investors have also joined the race recently as they fear to miss out on opportunities to make easy, quick gain from the latest bull run,” he added.

Although there are signs that the competition between gold and Bitcoin is fierce, the cryptocurrency’s market volatility still scares many investors. 

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