The total value of all bitcoin topped $1.0 trillion on Friday, capping a spectacular record-breaking week for the world's most popular cryptocurrency, AFP reports.

At about 1625 GMT, bitcoin zoomed to its latest all-time pinnacle at $54,182 after a string of corporate giants embraced the digital unit. It has surged by around 60 percent so far this month.

According to Reuters, Bitcoin's gains have been fueled by signs it is winning acceptance among mainstream investors and companies, from Tesla and Mastercard to BNY Mellon.

Its latest gains took its market capitalization – all the bitcoin in circulation – to about $982 billion, according to cryptocurrency data website CoinMarketCap, with all digital coins combined worth around $1.6 trillion.

Still, many analysts and investors remain skeptical of the patchily-regulated and highly volatile digital asset, which is still little used for commerce.

Analysts at JP Morgan said bitcoin's current prices were well above estimates of fair value. Mainstream adoption increases bitcoin's correlation with cyclical assets, which rise and fall with economic changes, in turn reducing benefits of diversifying into crypto, the investment bank said in a memo.

"Crypto assets continue to rank as the poorest hedge for major drawdowns in equities, with questionable diversification benefits at prices so far above production costs, while correlations with cyclical assets are rising as crypto ownership is mainstreamed," JP Morgan said.

Bitcoin is an "economic side show," it added, calling innovation in financial technology and the growth of digital platforms into credit and payments "the real financial transformational story of the COVID-19 era."

Other investors this week said bitcoin's volatility presents a hurdle for its ambitions to become a widespread means of payment.

On Thursday, Tesla boss Elon Musk – whose tweets have fueled bitcoin's rally – said owning the digital coin was only a little better than holding cash. He also defended Tesla's recent purchase of $1.5 billion of bitcoin, which ignited mainstream interest in the digital currency.

(With input from agencies)