"Bitcoin Surpasses $69,000 Mark: Record-Breaking Rise Signals Market Optimism"

The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, briefly hit a new all-time high of more than $69,000.

It surpassed the previous record set in November 2021 - though by 2022 Bitcoin's value had sunk to $16,500.

The new surge in price has been spurred by US finance giants pouring billions into buying bitcoins.

The cryptocurrency rose to around $69,200 shortly after 15:00 GMT on Tuesday, before falling back. It was trading around $62,185 by 21:00 GMT.

Bitcoin's value has spiked by more than 50% over the last month, according to cryptocurrency market data platform CoinMarketCap.

Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, said its price could go higher than its new record but warned that crypto was "notoriously volatile."

"Too often in the past the price crash was timed so that ordinary investors buying Bitcoin during the bubble are the ones who lose out," she told the BBC.

The new record represents another dramatic moment in Bitcoin's turbulent history.

It was invented in 2009 by a person or persons calling themselves Satoshi Nakamoto - their true identity remains a mystery.