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LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) - Bitcoin hit a record of $62,741 on Tuesday, extending its 2021 rally to new heights a day ahead of Coinbase's initial public offering.
The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange's listing on the Nasdaq on Wednesday is considered a landmark victory for cryptocurrency advocates.
The world's biggest cryptocurrency, which has growing mainstream acceptance as an investment and a means of payment, rose as much as 5% on Tuesday. Smaller rival Ethereum also reached a record high of $2,205.
Major firms including BNY Mellon , Mastercard Inc
and Tesla Inc are among those to have embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin topped $60,000 early last month, fuelled by Tesla's move to buy $1.5 billion of the digital currency for its balance sheet. For the past two weeks, it had traded in a tight range.
"When bitcoin markets create new highs the price often range-trades and we witness a round of profit-taking," said James Butterfill of digital asset manager CoinShares.
"During this most recent period have witnessed a similar profit-taking round, which now looks to have run its course."
The multi-fold rise in cryptocurrencies is also driven by investors seeking high-yielding assets amid low interest rates.
(Reporting by Thyagaraju Adinarayan and Tom Wilson; editing by Iain Withers, Larry King)
((thyagaraju.adinarayan@tr.com; +44 (0) 20 7536 7471; Reuters Messaging: thyagaraju.adinarayan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net; Twitter @thyagu))
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