Bitcoin at new high of $53,263 after Elon Musk defends Tesla's investment After Musk's endorsement, Bitcoin surged to its new record high of $53,263 at 9:55 am on Friday in New York. The cryprocurrency has risen 10 per cent just this week BusinessToday.In | February 19, 2021 | Updated 22:27 IST Bitcoin got another leg-up on Friday after billionaire Elon Musk defended the investment by his electric vehicle company Tesla in the popular cryptocurrency. After Musk's tweet, where he called Bitcoin "simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash", the digital currency raced to a new high of $53,263. "Tesla's action is not directly reflective of my opinion. Having some Bitcoin, which is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash, is adventurous enough for an S&P500 company," Musk tweeted in response to a tweet on sub-zero returns on cash caused by negative-yielding debt.