Enlarge (credit: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

The price of one bitcoin briefly rose above $50,000 on Tuesday morning to set a new record. By noon Eastern Time, the price had fallen to around $48,500.

Bitcoin's price is now far above the previous peak of $19,500 reached in December 2017. Bitcoin's value has risen by almost 70 percent since the start of 2021.

No single factor seems to be driving the cryptocurrency's rise. Instead, the price is rising as more and more mainstream organizations are deciding to treat it as an ordinary investment asset. An important milestone came last week when Bank of New York Mellon announced that it plans to begin holding bitcoin on behalf of clients.