Bitcoin hit a record high on Thursday after a summer rally powered by scores of companies racing to buy the cryptocurrency and the US government’s steadfast support for the industry.

The world’s biggest digital asset rose 1.3 per cent in early trading to $124,480, taking its gains this month to almost 7 per cent. It has been lifted by the flood of companies loading up on the coin and by President Donald Trump’s executive order opening US retirement plans to crypto investments.

Trump last week ordered US agencies to allow the $9tn retirement market to invest in alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies, paving the way for a surge of institutional investment into the sector. Trump has fiercely championed the crypto industry since returning to the White House, and industry executives have in turn raised millions of dollars for the president’s election fund.