隨著一些使用區塊鏈技術的創業公司開始進行新一輪的融資融幣，市場對數字加密資產的需求出現暴漲，導致本周二比特幣的交易價格再創歷史紀錄。

區塊鏈是比特幣的技術基礎，你可以將它看成一個由計算機網絡保管的“賬本”，它不需要一個中心監管者就可以追蹤任何一筆資產的流動。

在比特幣交易平臺BitStamp上，比特幣的交易價格一度飆升至創紀錄的1,760.40美元，收于1,747.89美元，一天之內幣值上漲了6%。從年初至今，比特幣的幣值已經狂漲了將近80%。據coinmarketcap.com報道，本周二比特幣市場總值已漲至525億美元。

現在，比特幣不僅可以作為一種像股票和債券一樣的資產在交易平臺上交易，一些零售企業（如零售電商網站Overstock.com等）也開始允許消費者用比特幣進行支付。同時比特幣還可以用作一種資金轉賬的手段，且不需要第三方平臺參與。

紐約ARK投資公司的區塊鏈產品負責人克里斯?伯尼斯克指出：“這一領域出現了大量新資本的涌入，這些資本開始在比特幣和其他一些數字加密資產之間流動。”

“目前比特幣仍然是市場上主要的流動性提供者，人們也用它來購買其他一些數字加密資產。”

盡管近來比特幣的幣值一路走高，但明尼阿波里斯聯邦儲備銀行行長尼爾?卡什卡里仍然對比特幣的前景持謹慎態度。他指出，區塊鏈技術未來要比比特幣本身具有更大的潛力。

上周二，卡什卡里在明尼阿波里斯市的一次科技大會上表示：“我認為，不論是投資者還是美聯儲，對比特幣的看法都有了一定的變化。”

比特幣的幣值之所以近來出現飆升，與近期通過所謂“首次公開代幣預售”（ICO）模式銷售的其他數字貨幣的火爆有很大關系。在ICO模式下，區域鏈技術的創業公司可以將代幣直接銷售給公眾，從而可以在不受任何監管的情況下進行融資。

根據Smith+Crown公司的數據，今年至少有40家創業公司已經進行了ICO。

數字加密貨幣衍生品交易平臺BitMEX公司的首席執行官亞瑟?海耶斯指出：“現在，創業者們光靠一個做得十分光鮮的網站，就可以從大大小小的投資人那里獲得資本。這還是金融史上的頭一遭。”

有分析師表示，比特幣的幣值之所以一路走高，其根源在去年7月就已種下，當時比特幣平臺出現了“獎勵減半”的新規，使對比特幣“礦工”的獎勵出現了下降，從而限制了比特幣的供給。

比特幣是使用所謂的“挖礦計算機”來開采的。比特幣系統每十分鐘會產生一個“區塊”，用戶要使用挖礦機通過數字解謎的方式與其他“礦工”相互競爭。第一個解開謎題和完成交易的就會得到比特幣作為獎勵。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Digital currency bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday as demand for crypto-assets soared with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain technology.

Blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin , is a financial ledger maintained by a network of computers that can track the movement of any asset without the need for a central regulator

Bitcoin hit a record $1,760.40 on the BitStamp platform and was last at $1,747.89, up 6% on the day. So far this year, bitcoin has surged nearly 80%. Bitcoin 's market capitalization on Tuesday soared to $52.5 billion, according to data from coinmarketcap.com.

Aside from being an asset that can be traded on exchanges like stocks and bonds, bitcoin has become a mode of payment for some retailers, such as Overstock.com, and a way to transfer funds without the need for a third party.

"We have an influx of new capital in the space and that capital goes back and forth among crypto-assets and bitcoin ," said Chris Burniske, blockchain products leader at ARK Invest in New York, which manages exchange-traded funds.

" Bitcoin is still the main liquidity provider in the market and people use it to buy other crypto-assets."

That said, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari has been skeptical about bitcoin 's outlook, noting that blockchain has more potential for being adopted in the future than the digital currency itself.

"I think sentiment has shifted in the markets, in the Fed," Kashkari said at a technology conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Still, a big part of bitcoin 's recent surge is the increase in demand for other digital currencies being sold in so-called "initial coin offerings," or ICOs. Under ICOs, blockchain start-ups sell their tokens directly to the public to raise capital without any regulatory oversight.

At least 40 start-ups have launched an ICO this year, according Smith + Crown data.

"For the first time in financial history, founders can access capital from both large and small investors armed with nothing more than a slick website," said Arthur Hayes, chief executive at crypto-currency derivatives trading platform BitMEX.

Analysts say the foundation for bitcoin 's gains was set last July in a process called "halving," in which rewards offered to bitcoin miners shrink. That has constrained bitcoin 's supply.

Bitcoin relies on so-called "mining" computers that validate blocks of transactions by competing to solve mathematical puzzles every 10 minutes. In return, the first to solve the puzzle and clear the transaction is rewarded with new bitcoin s.