TheCable

Bitcoin has jumped to a record high after Mastercard and Bank of New York Mellon moved to make it easier for customers to use cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin, the largest digital asset, rose as much as 7.4 per cent to $48,364, surpassing the all-time high reached on Monday, after Tesla announced it would hold $1.5 billion of the cryptos on its balance sheet.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., an American investment banking services holding company, on Thursday, said it will hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for institutional customers.

Also in a blog post by Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president for digital assets, blockchain products and partnerships, the company said it is preparing for the future of crypto and payments.

“Whatever your opinions on cryptocurrencies — from a dyed-in-wool fanatic to utter skeptic — the fact remains that these digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world,” the blog post read.

“This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protection and compliance.

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently directed banks and other financial institution to close accounts of persons or entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions.

The CBN argues that cryptocurrencies pose the risk of loss of investments, money laundering, terrorism financing, illicit fund flows and other criminal activities.