The price of Bitcoin in China skyrocketed to nearly 7,296 yuan ($1,050) by 5 p.m. on Monday, according to the Bitcoin trading platform btctrade.com.
In 2016, the price of Bitcoin appreciated more than 194 percent, with daily turnover reaching 30 billion yuan on major platforms, domestic news portal cs.com.cn reported on Friday.
The price of Bitcoin is boosted by factors including lack of investment channels, a limited supply and the promise of blockchain technology, said Zhu Jiawei, vice president of leading Bitcoin trading platform huobi.com.
Bitcoin, first released in 2009, is created through a complicated computing process based on a technology called blockchain.
In July 2016, the number of Bitcoins created from one block was halved to 12.5, with the current amount of Bitcoins in circulation at around 17 million, Zhu said.
Capital has flooded into Bitcoin as investor interest in the domestic property and stocks markets cooled, Zhu said.
"In addition, more and more global financial institutions have acknowledged the importance of blockchain technology," Zhu noted.
For example, Russia's central bank announced plans in February to study blockchain applications in finance and other areas of the economy, industry website coindesk.com reported on June 3.
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said in an announcement in April 2015 that Bitcoins are virtual goods and should not circulate as a currency.
Financial and payment institutions should not transact Bitcoins or provide Bitcoin-related services to clients, the announcement said.
Zhu warned that short-term investors need to be ware of risks stemming from Bitcoin's volatility.
A 30-year-old Beijing resident told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that she sold 0.1 Bitcoin over the weekend. "As the price of Bitcoin peaked around 8,000 yuan, I think the currency may plunge over next few months," she said on Monday.
