Bitcoin has left gold behind and started to rise wildly, and major competing currencies have been drained of their money

The price of Bitcoin has risen by about $79 in the past 24 hours, breaking through the historic $1,500 mark.

CNBC analyst and Capital founder Brian Kelly attributed the recent surge in Bitcoin’s price to rising demand for the cryptocurrency from institutional investors.

More and more investors and traders have begun to realize that Bitcoin is a long-term investment, a store of value, and a settlement network, rather than a short-term investment or "hot money."

Japan’s bitcoin exchange market and industry has matured over the past few months, with the country’s largest financial institutions and corporations beginning to launch digital currency exchanges.

SBI Group, a Tokyo-based financial conglomerate, recently launched SBI Virtual Currencies, creating a secure and efficient ecosystem for investors seeking to trade Bitcoin and the Japanese Yen. Another multi-billion dollar internet company also announced plans to launch a Bitcoin exchange this year.

The SBI Group representative further emphasized that mainstream perceptions of Bitcoin have changed significantly after the Japanese government legalized Bitcoin as a payment method.

In addition, the elimination of Bitcoin tax requirements is another major reason to convince institutional investors to invest in Bitcoin. Countries such as Japan and the Philippines have fully legalized Bitcoin payments and will waive any taxes on traders and investors.

Kelly said:

“The biggest driver right now is that you’re starting to see institutional investors taking a strong interest in the industry as a whole. I don’t think it’s hot money. It’s real capital that’s going to settle here and build the new internet.”

The altcoin market is being drained

After the price of Bitcoin broke through its historical high, the altcoin market suffered a blow. Starting yesterday afternoon, the prices of major altcoins have fallen sharply. According to data provided by Coinmarketcap.com, the top 10 altcoins fell by 3%-15% in a single day.

As of the time of writing, Ethereum Classic is down 14.06%, followed by NEM, which is down 13.48%. Dash and Ripple, despite their recent impressive performance, have also been affected, down 9.34% and 7.09% respectively. Angur has also experienced heavy bleeding, down nearly 9.14%.

Ethereum's token ETH hit a new high of $80 last week, but has now fallen 5.42% and is currently priced at around $76.23.

Barry Silbert, founder of Digital Currency Group, remained unmoved, commenting:

“It’s clear that Bitcoin is already the new Bitcoin.”