Bitcoin smashed through $20,000 (€16,400) for the first time today.
The cryptocurrency has gained more than 170% this year, buoyed by demand from larger investors attracted to its potential for quick gains, purported inflation-resistant qualities, and expectations it will become a mainstream payment method.
Bitcoin hit an all-time peak of $20,800 (over €17,000) and was last up 6.4% at $20,675 (€16,966).
"$20,000 is undoubtedly a momentous milestone for bitcoin," CEO and co-founder of online investment platform eToro Yoni Assia told CNBC.
He added: "We have seen a significant shift in the demographic of those interested and invested in crypto.
"[It is] no longer the domain of just computer programmers and fintech advocates."
Paul Hickey, co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, said: "The latest run to $20,000 hasn't been accompanied by nearly the amount of hype as there was back in 2017."
Bitcoin then garnered more interest from retail investors, but some may now be leery after getting burned, Hickey added.
American whistleblower Edward Snowden also tweeted on Wednesday: "One word: Bitcoin."
Smaller coins ethereum and XRP, which often move in tandem with bitcoin, gained 5.4% and 8.1%, respectively.
"Many of our clients have been expecting bitcoin to surpass its all-time high of $20,000 given the recent news from major institutional players like SGX and MassMutual openly endorsing bitcoin," said Scott Freeman, co-founder & partner at trading firm JST Capital.
"While this is a major milestone for this nascent asset class, as retail, institutional, and blue-chip investors alike allocate more capital to this space, it would not be surprising to see other coins follow in BTC's footsteps and for this upward trajectory to be sustained into 2021."
Bitcoin's blistering rally has seen a massive flow of coin to North America from East Asia, fuelled by hunger for bitcoin among bigger and compliance-wary U.S. investors.
British fund manager Ruffer Investment Management, which managed £20.3 billion ($27.3 billion) in assets at end-November, made a bet on bitcoin now worth around £550 million($745 million), a spokesman for the company told Reuters.
The rally in bitcoin, which some investors have seen as a potential safe haven, has coincided with spot gold's drop in recent months.
Some investors such as hedge funds and family offices have in the past been deterred by the opaque nature of the crypto market.
Tightening oversight of the American crypto industry has helped soothe some of those concerns.
After touching a record high just under $20,000 in late November, bitcoin stalled and even went below $17,000, stoking fears that it would be a repeat of the asset's collapse in 2018.
Glassnode, which provides insight on blockchain data, said long-term holders of bitcoin had been selling the virtual currency after it reached the November record peak. It noted however that this was overall a long-term bullish signal rooted in previous price trends.
In general, the euro has risen nearly 13% since the European Union announced a recovery fund in May.
Stronger economic activity data in recent months have also boosted bets that Europe is likely to outperform the United States in the coming months.
Those expectations got a further boost with manufacturing survey data from Germany and France indicating that Europe's biggest economies may be recovering quickly.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said she could not say whether the EU and Britain would reach a trade agreement, but progress had been made and the next few days would be critical.
