Digital currency Bitcoin has seen its value top $1000 (£815) for the first time in three years after it ended as the best-performing currency of 2016.
It traded as high as $1,029 on Tuesday, according to CoinDesk data .
Analysts are attributing its jump to increased demand from China, which is where most Bitcoin trading takes place.
Bitcoin relies on web-based transactions handled across thousands of computers and is an anonymous and quick way to move money globally.
As a result, some speculate people in China are using it to circumnavigate strict government rules aimed at preventing money from leaving the country.
China's currency, the renminbi, fell about 7% in value last year.
Bitcoin rose 125% in value last year, which makes it the world's best-performing currency when compared with its central bank-issued peers.
"The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association.
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