Digital currency bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday as demand for crypto-assets soared with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain technology.

Blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin , is a financial ledger maintained by a network of computers that can track the movement of any asset without the need for a central regulator

Bitcoin hit a record $1,760.40 on the BitStamp platform and was last at $1,747.89, up 6% on the day. So far this year, bitcoin has surged nearly 80%. Bitcoin 's market capitalization on Tuesday soared to $52.5 billion, according to data from coinmarketcap.com.

Aside from being an asset that can be traded on exchanges like stocks and bonds, bitcoin has become a mode of payment for some retailers, such as Overstock.com, and a way to transfer funds without the need for a third party.

"We have an influx of new capital in the space and that capital goes back and forth among crypto-assets and bitcoin ," said Chris Burniske, blockchain products leader at ARK Invest in New York, which manages exchange-traded funds.

" Bitcoin is still the main liquidity provider in the market and people use it to buy other crypto-assets."

That said, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari has been skeptical about bitcoin 's outlook, noting that blockchain has more potential for being adopted in the future than the digital currency itself.

"I think sentiment has shifted in the markets, in the Fed," Kashkari said at a technology conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Still, a big part of bitcoin 's recent surge is the increase in demand for other digital currencies being sold in so-called "initial coin offerings," or ICOs. Under ICOs, blockchain start-ups sell their tokens directly to the public to raise capital without any regulatory oversight.

At least 40 start-ups have launched an ICO this year, according Smith + Crown data.

"For the first time in financial history, founders can access capital from both large and small investors armed with nothing more than a slick website," said Arthur Hayes, chief executive at crypto-currency derivatives trading platform BitMEX.

Analysts say the foundation for bitcoin 's gains was set last July in a process called "halving," in which rewards offered to bitcoin miners shrink. That has constrained bitcoin 's supply.

Bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoin s.

随着一些使用区块链技术的创业公司开始进行新一轮的融资融币，市场对数字加密资产的需求出现暴涨，导致本周二比特币的交易价格再创历史纪录。

区块链是比特币的技术基础，你可以将它看成一个由计算机网络保管的“账本”，它不需要一个中心监管者就可以追踪任何一笔资产的流动。

在比特币交易平台BitStamp上，比特币的交易价格一度飙升至创纪录的1,760.40美元，收于1,747.89美元，一天之内币值上涨了6%。从年初至今，比特币的币值已经狂涨了将近80%。据coinmarketcap.com报道，本周二比特币市场总值已涨至525亿美元。

现在，比特币不仅可以作为一种像股票和债券一样的资产在交易平台上交易，一些零售企业（如零售电商网站Overstock.com等）也开始允许消费者用比特币进行支付。同时比特币还可以用作一种资金转账的手段，且不需要第三方平台参与。

纽约ARK投资公司的区块链产品负责人克里斯•伯尼斯克指出：“这一领域出现了大量新资本的涌入，这些资本开始在比特币和其他一些数字加密资产之间流动。”

“目前比特币仍然是市场上主要的流动性提供者，人们也用它来购买其他一些数字加密资产。”

尽管近来比特币的币值一路走高，但明尼阿波里斯联邦储备银行行长尼尔•卡什卡里仍然对比特币的前景持谨慎态度。他指出，区块链技术未来要比比特币本身具有更大的潜力。

上周二，卡什卡里在明尼阿波里斯市的一次科技大会上表示：“我认为，不论是投资者还是美联储，对比特币的看法都有了一定的变化。”

比特币的币值之所以近来出现飙升，与近期通过所谓“首次公开代币预售”（ICO）模式销售的其他数字货币的火爆有很大关系。在ICO模式下，区域链技术的创业公司可以将代币直接销售给公众，从而可以在不受任何监管的情况下进行融资。

根据Smith+Crown公司的数据，今年至少有40家创业公司已经进行了ICO。

数字加密货币衍生品交易平台BitMEX公司的首席执行官亚瑟•海耶斯指出：“现在，创业者们光靠一个做得十分光鲜的网站，就可以从大大小小的投资人那里获得资本。这还是金融史上的头一遭。”

有分析师表示，比特币的币值之所以一路走高，其根源在去年7月就已种下，当时比特币平台出现了“奖励减半”的新规，使对比特币“矿工”的奖励出现了下降，从而限制了比特币的供给。

比特币是使用所谓的“挖矿计算机”来开采的。比特币系统每十分钟会产生一个“区块”，用户要使用挖矿机通过数字解谜的方式与其他“矿工”相互竞争。第一个解开谜题和完成交易的就会得到比特币作为奖励。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎