The value of Bitcoin climbed above the threshold of $14,000 early Thursday to mark a fresh record high level.
Bitcoin value reached $14,189 at 01.50 Turkish local time on Thursday (1050 GMT on Wednesday) before climbing to as high as $14,400.
The virtual currency surpassed the $12,000 and $13,000 marks on Wednesday, breaking two records in the span of approximately 18 hours.
Thus, Bitcoin's value gained 23 percent in two days and 45 percent this month. Its value jumped 1,830 percent since the beginning of this year after it closed at $973 on the final day of 2016.
Bitcoin's market capitalization is now near $240 billion, leaving behind pharmaceutical firm Pfizer that has a $211 billion value, and American communication giants AT&T and Verizon, which stand at 221 billion and 207 billion, respectively.
Some other 1,200 cryptocurrencies in the world have a total market capitalization of approximately $360 billion.
As American financial firms prepare to offer their services for Bitcoin, the virtual currency's value and demand have soared, according to analysts.
The U.S.' Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates options and futures markets, announced last Friday that it will allow listings for Bitcoin future contracts. The U.S. financial market firm CME Group, which owns and operates exchanges in Chicago, New York and London, also said last Friday that it will begin offering Bitcoin contracts on Dec. 18.
By Ovunc Kutlu in New York
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr