Virtual currency Bitcoin hit a record high of $9,700 after jumping 4.5% so far on Monday.

The move takes it to 20% above the level it stood at on Friday, according to the Luxembourg-based Bitcoin exchange, Bitstamp.

It started the year at around $1,000.
Virtual currencies are largely unregulated and bypass traditional banking systems. Their growth is of increasing concern to international regulators.

China and South Korea have banned any new virtual currency launches and have been shutting down exchanges on which they are traded.

JP Morgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, described Bitcoin at a recent conference as “a fraud”.
“It’s just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed,” he said.
Currencies such as Bitcoin use blockchain, which is an online ledger of transactions maintained by a network of anonymous computers on the internet.

They are not backed by any government, nor central bank and therefore there is no-one responsible for backing their value.

European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny told Reuters news agency that Bitcoin “could easily blow up, and central banks could then be accused of not doing anything.
“So we’re trying to understand whether bank activity in relation to crypto-currency trading needs to be better regulated.”

Jameel Ahmad, from Cyprus-based online foreign exchange broker, FXTM, said: “This rise appears to have been triggered by hopes the CME move will bring in investment from hedge funds and other major investors and move Bitcoin into the mainstream.”

Bitcoin is particularly susceptible to rumour. Mr Ahmad said there is also talk that Amazon is considering accepting Bitcoin as payment.

There is also concern that Bitcoin could be vulnerable to hackers.

Source-BBC

Bitcoin currency hits new record high