Bitcoin jumps up by 7 percent to be valued at $5000 for the time ever

Bitcoin smashed through the $5,000 barrier for the first time ever on 12 October, jumping as much as 7 percent to chalk up its biggest daily rise in over two weeks. [caption id=“attachment_1391427” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bitcoins are seen in this file photo. Reuters[/caption]

Bitcoin, the original and still the biggest cryptocurrency, has been on a tear recently, rallying nearly 75 percent in barely a month. It has chalked up a more than fivefold increase in price since the start of the year.

On 10 October, Russia decided to  **block access to websites** of exchanges that offer  crypto-currencies  such as Bitcoin, Russian Central Bank First Deputy Governor Sergei Shvetsov said.

Later the authorities accepted the globally booming market of crypto-currencies but want to either control the turnover or to limit access to the market.

Speaking at a conference on financial market derivatives, Shvetsov said the central bank sees rising interest in crypto-currencies because of high returns from buying into such instruments.

With inputs from Reuters