Bitcoin surpassed the 14-thousand dollar mark for the first time on Thursday, as the global rally continues on the world's most heavily-traded cryptocurrency.
 
According to Bloomberg, the price of the digital currency surged up to a record 14-thousand-199 dollars at one point on Thursday. That's more than fourteen times the price seen in early January.

The surge in the cryptocurrency's price came as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange have said they will launch Bitcoin futures this month and as the Tokyo Financial Exchange has begun taking steps toward launching bitcoin-related products.

 As of 3:30 p.m., Bitcoin was trading at around 14-thousand-220. 
 
A lion's share of the trade is down to South Korean investors.  Industry-tracker CoinMarketCap said 21 percent of global Bitcoin transactions were made in the South Korean currency as of Wednesday.
 
Bitcoin was trading above 17-thousand dollars in South Korea, up by roughly 20 percent from the previous day.