Bitcoin breaks through $3,500 to hit fresh record high, now up 264% this year

Bitcoin broke through the $3,500 mark for the first time on Tuesday hitting a fresh record high as uncertainty over the future of the cryptocurrency subsided.

The digital currency hit an-all time high of $3,525.04 before pulling back to around $3,481 early on Tuesday.

Bitcoin's record high marks a 264 percent year-to-date rise and comes after months of infighting in the cryptocurrency world.

Within the bitcoin community, a so-called "scaling debate" has been going on. There is a big backlog of transactions on the bitcoin blockchain — the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency.

The debate was over the way in which the capacity of the blockchain could be increased to speed up the capability of the bitcoin network. Major infighting within the community took place which led to two separate proposals on how to expand the blockchain.

Because of the two separate proposals, a "fork" took place which split the blockchain at the end of July. A new digital currency called Bitcoin Cash was created. Bitcoin Cash's market cap is just under a tenth of bitcoin's.

Source: Bloomberg Pro Terminal

Jr Trader Alexander Kumanov

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