Bitcoin passes $30,000 for the first time

Paris: Bitcoin, the leading virtual currency, saw its price pass $30,000 on Saturday for the first time in just its latest record high.

The first decentralised cryptocurrency surpassed $30,823.30 at 1313 GMT, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg

news agency, having broken $20,000 on December 16.

Analyst Timo Emden noted that "the appetite for risk", which is reflected in buying of bitcoin, "remains unshakeable".

"More historic highs could follow," the Germany-based analyst added.

Just 12 years old, bitcoin has seen a meteoric rise since March, when it stood at $5,000, spurred by online payments giant PayPal saying it would enable account holders to use cryptocurrency.

After PayPal´s announcement in October, analysts at investment banking giant JPMorgan Chase compared the cryptocurrency to gold.

"Bitcoin could compete more intensely with gold as an ´alternative´ currency over the coming years given that millennials will become over time a more important component of investors´ universe," they said.

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.

Unregulated by any central bank, bitcoin emerged as an attractive option for investors with an appetite for the exotic -- although criminals have also picked up on its under-the-radar appeal.

Debate has meanwhile raged over the status of the digital asset, launched in late 2008, as to whether it should be seen as a form of money, an asset or a commodity.

After the unit surpassed $1,000 for the first time in 2013, it increasingly began to attract the attention of financial institutions and has experienced wild price swings.