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It's had a blistering rally of late, Bitcoin has gained almost 40% in November alone.

And is up around 160% this year.

On Tuesday (Nov 24) it homed in on its all-time high after hitting $19,000 for the first time in nearly three years.

Fuelling the surge has been demand for riskier assets amid unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus designed to counter the economic damage of the pandemic.

Hunger has increased for assets perceived as resistant to inflation.

As well as expectations that cryptocurrencies will win mainstream acceptance.

Bitcoin's 12-year history has been peppered with huge gains and equally sharp drops.

Its markets remain highly opaque compared with traditional assets such as stocks and bonds.

Its rally this year has prompted some investors to claim the cryptocurrency could more than quintuple in price to as high as $100,000 in a year.

That's drawn eye rolls from sceptics who say it is a purely speculative asset.

Cryptocurrency markets have matured since bitcoin's retail-fuelled rally in 2017, attracting bigger investors.

One asset manager told Reuters that it "implies that sophisticated investors and institutional investors are now purchasing bitcoin."