Bitcoin broke above $40,000 on Wednesday and headed for another attempt at breaking from its months-long range as short-sellers bailed out and traders drew confidence from recent positive comments about the cryptocurrency by high-profile investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitcoin was last up 1.7 per cent at $40,149 while rival cryptocurrency ether rose 1 per cent to $2,328.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitcoin is within a whisker of rising through its 100-day moving average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
is a decentralised digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The currency came into use in 2009 when its implementation was released as open-source software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n