Bitcoin hits record as it surges above $6,000
Bitcoin surged 5% to a record high above $6,000 on Friday.
The cryptocurrency traded at $6,003.81 as of 11:48 a.m. in New York, according to CoinDesk.
Bitcoin notched its record after briefly plunging 8.7% Wednesday amid fears of greater scrutiny from U.S. regulators.
Most of the cryptocurrency's trading volume came from Japan, with 59% of the trades executed in Japanese yen. Trades in U.S. dollars accounted for 25.5% of all trades, according to CryptoCompare.
Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency has had a stellar performance over the past month, rising 50.4 percent. This despite being criticized by JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock CEOs Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink.
Dimon said last week at a conference that people who own the cryptocurrency are "stupid." Fink, who spoke at the same conference, called bitcoin an "index of money laundering."
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