Bitcoin's price climbed as much as 7.9 percent Thursday as it surged above $14,000 (about ¥1,568,000), extending this month's advance to more than 40 percent. The cryptocurrency also set a new record by touching $14,399.99, according to Bloomberg pricing.

ASX Ltd., the main exchange operator for equities and derivatives in Australia, on Thursday said it will start using blockchain to process equity transactions. Blockchain is the ledger software that makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies possible, and Digital Asset Holdings LLC, the startup run by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Blythe Masters, will supply the technology.

Blythe Masters tells banks that blockchain will change everything.

The latest price move will add to a chorus coming from naysayers who assert the speculative frenzy is an asset bubble waiting to pop. The largest cryptocurrency by market value has soared from less than $1,000 at the start of the year, up more than 1,300 percent.

Cboe Global Markets Inc. has said it will start trading bitcoin futures on Sunday, while CME Group Inc.'s contracts are set to debut on Dec. 18. Nasdaq Inc. is planning to offer futures in 2018, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cantor Fitzgerald LP's Cantor Exchange is creating a bitcoin derivative, and startup LedgerX already offers options.