SILVER SPRING, Md. — After a wild week in which Bitcoin soared to new heights, Bitcoin crossed the $50,000 mark early Tuesday.

Bitcoin rallied throughout the as more companies signaled the volatile digital currency could eventually gain widespread acceptance as a means of payment for goods and services. Bitcoin has been mostly seen as a store of value, like gold, with very few places to spend it.

Then, last Monday, Elon Musk's electric car company, Tesla, said it had bought $1.5 billion of Bitcoin as part of a new investment strategy and would soon be accepting it as form of payment for its high-end cars.

It remains unclear how many major companies will follow Tesla's lead. Analysts predict a slow evolution toward widespread usage of bitcoins to pay for goods and services.