Bitcoin has set a record jumping more than 8 percent to $48,481, continuing the upward trend after Tesla purchased $1.5 billion of the virtual currency.

The latest surge brings it past its previous record of $47,387 after the popular crypto currency gained 5.7 percent.

Earlier in the day, Elon Musk, whose comments on social media appear to have been driving bitcoin's value up, posted a cryptic Lord of the Rings-styled reference to the crypto currency, while also indirectly mentioning the dogecoin.

Tesla, Musk's electric car giant, has recently bought $1.5 billion of the bit coin, which spurred the crypto currency's record-breaking growth.

The maverick has said that Bitcoin has a good chance of becoming widely accepted in the conventional finance world, believing the crypto currency to be "a good thing."