The crypto currency hit over $48,000 on Thursday, up around 6.9%.

By Friday morning, it had eased back but was still holding above 47%.

The gains came after B.

N Y Mellon said it had formed a new unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets.

A new unit of the bank is expected to roll out the offerings later this year.

The largest virtual currency in terms of market capitalization has gained around 66% so far this year on Sword, roughly 1200% since mid March 2020.

The B.

N Y Mellon announcement came just days after Elon Musk's Tesler revealed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the crypto currency on plans to start accepting it as a form of payment for its cars.

After long being shunned by traditional financial firms, Bitcoin has finally entered the mainstream.

Last month, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, added Bitcoin as an eligible investment to two funds, and this week credit card giant MasterCard said it was planning to offer support for some crypto currencies on its network this year.

But analysts say corporations are simply hedging themselves against the possibility that Bitcoin succeeds while other market participants continue to advise caution.