Bitcoin hits record high amid Chinese buying spree  

比特币价格一月暴涨249% 未来或至4万美金一个

近日，比特币的价格像搭了火箭一样，节节攀高，中新网IT频道从比特币中国网上查询到，截止昨日，1比特币成交价已达3490元，而在一个月之前，这个价格才1000元左右，这意味着最近一月时间，比特币上涨约249%。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- The Bitcoin is surging to new highs worldwide this month, and the price of one Bitcoin is hovering around 3,490 yuan ($580), almost 2.5 times higher than one month ago, according to Chinanews.com.[Special coverage]

It said that the price of digital cyrptocurrency has surged from below 1,000 yuan per unit to a high of 3,490 yuan in a month, ending Nov. 19 on market tracking website bitcoin.com.

Bitcoins are an untraceable, peer-to-peer digital wallet system, a "virtual currency" that is not sanctioned by any government.

China has fueled the cyrptocurrency surge to record highs, and BTC China, a Chinese Bitcoin trading platform, has overtaken Mt.Gox and BitStamp to become the largest one in terms of turnover, according to foreign media.

The demand surge in China is widely seen to be connected with the acceptance of Bitcoins by Baidu Jiasule, a firewall service for websites co-developed by an online security firm and Baidu, China's version of Google. Shanda Tiandi, a real estate developer in Shanghai, also accepts Bitcoin payments.

As Bitcoins have become more valuable, many Chinese considered getting them using the process known as "mining." However, it is not easy.

Bitcoins are theoretically capped at 21 million, 10.8 million of which are already in the market, and the rest will be more difficult to create over time.

A seller of Bitcoin "digital mining machines" on Taobao, China's largest online market, said the more efficient a mining machine is, the greater probablility it has to get Bitcoins, but with the increasing cost of mining machines, it is becoming more difficult to make it.

Despite the buzz, risk in cyrptocurrency investment still exists. Wang Yinping, an analyst from Guolian Futures, said online virtual currency has no assurance from the real economy and government.

Bitcoins are still being viewed cautiously by lawmakers and regulators in the United States. In fact, two Senate hearings about the risks Bitcoin poses are in session.

Cryptocurrency may one day hit a total of $400 billion market capitalization, according to Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, American rowers and Internet entrepreneurs.