Bitcoin gains 5% to $50,943

Bitcoin rose 5% to $50,942.58 on Wednesday, adding $2,426.23 to its previous close.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, has risen 83.7% from the year's low of $27,734 on Jan. 4.

Bitcoin has fallen 12.7% from the year's high of $58,354.14 on Feb. 21.

Bitcoin's price soared this year as major firms, such as BNY Mellon, asset manager BlackRock Inc, credit card giant Mastercard Inc, backed cryptocurrencies, while those such as Tesla Inc Square Inc and MicroStrategy Inc invested in bitcoin.

Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 7.18 % to $1,595.64 on Wednesday, adding $106.84 to its previous close. (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)