The Bitcoin price continued to its stellar run over the weekend and raced to an all-time high of US$9,484.91 according to CoinDesk.
At the time of writing the cryptocurrency has dropped back a touch, but still sits almost 16% higher than this time last week at US$9,304.84.
This gives Bitcoin a market capitalisation of over US$155 billion, more than the combined value of both Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ).
It wasn't just Bitcoin climbing to a new high. Bitcoin rival Ethereum reached a record US$469.94 over the weekend.
What happened?
Traders have been fighting to get hold of cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin in particular, due to the growing signs of mainstream adoption and the soon-to-be-released futures markets.
According to CNBC, the world's largest futures exchange, CME, plans to list bitcoin futures early next month. The launch of a derivatives product for the digital currency is being seen as another step in establishing bitcoin as a legitimate asset class.
Should you invest?
As I have said previously, I believe Bitcoin could prove to be a good addition to a balanced portfolio due to the diversification it offers thanks to its lack of correlation with any other asset class.
However, I would suggest investors restrict any investment to just a very small allocation due to it being a high risk investment with increasingly wild swings.