This beats the previous record high set in late October, when bitcoin reached nearly $67,700 before falling back again when investors discovered a new cryptocurrency, shiba inu.
Investors are buying it because they are worried about rising inflation – as an alternative to gold, a traditional inflation hedge – and as bond yields are falling.
Wilfred Daye, the head of the trading platform Securitize Capital, said: “Inflation is a major consideration for investors today, and the younger generation of investors often favours cryptocurrency as a hedge over gold.
Cryptocurrencies can be used to send transactions between two parties via the use of private and public keys.
The exchange rate has been volatile, with some deeming it a risky investment.
In practice it has been far more important for the dark economy than it has for most legitimate uses.
The more bitcoins that have been “mined”, the longer it takes to mine new coin, and the more electricity is used in the process.
The latest gains come after the US tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, the chief executive and co-founder of the payment service Square, said he was committed to making bitcoin “the native currency of the internet” and his company had no plans to expand its offerings to other cryptocurrencies.