(MENAFN - Asia Times) HONG KONG â Several Hong Kong-listed stocks with blockchain businesses or concepts jumped significantly on the first trading day of the Year of the Ox after Bitcoin hit a new high in the past two days. On Sunday, Bitcoin reached $49,375 for the first time, almost meeting the forecast made by Nicholas Pelecanos, the head of trading at cryptocurrency firm NEM, who said on January 2 that the cryptocurrency could rise to $50,000 by Valentine's Day. The recent surge in Bitcoin, together with US-listed Bitcoin miners such as Bit Digital and Riot Blockchain, came after Tesla announced on February 8 that it bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and would accept customer payments in the cryptocurrency.