Bitcoin hits fresh highs after Tesla investment

Bitcoin has made fresh gains a day after Tesla said it had bought about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) of the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin hit a new peak of $48,216 (£34,991) before sliding back slightly, but it still remains 25% higher than five days ago.

Some investors took Tesla's move as a signal that Bitcoin would become a mainstream financial asset.

However, there was some criticism about a green car firm investing in such an energy intensive currency.

Bitcoin, which is generated using a large amount of computing power, currently uses more energy than Argentina per year, according to University of Cambridge analysis.

The cryptocurrency has already risen in value by 62% this year, on top of a 300% rally in 2020, as investors search for alternative assets with many countries' interest rates at record lows.

Bitcoin has had some interest from money managers, including Blackrock, which recently changed a handful of investment mandates to allow some of its funds to invest in the currency.

However, central banks remain sceptical about the cryptocurrency.