Cryptocurrency created two days ago worth $45bn

A two-day-old cryptocurrency is already worth $45bn (£32bn) as a frenzy over digital assets escalates.

The Internet Computer token has become the world's eighth-largest digital currency, overtaking far older projects, as the start-up behind it hopes to revolutionise technology with increased reliance on distributed ledgers.

Dfinity, a Swiss non-profit organisation that has raised more than $120m from prominent Silicon Valley investors including Andreessen Horowitz, plans to use its tokens to fund the development of decentralised servers that could threaten Amazon’s dominance of web hosting.

This design would prevent the localisation of the internet in a few key regions, Dfinity has claimed, adding that its Internet Computer system could withstand a nuclear strike because it will be spread globally.

Centralised data centres operated by businesses such as Google and Amazon are “vulnerable to everything from terrorist attacks, cyber attacks, and acts of God”, Dfinity has claimed.

The start-up hopes to build its global “internet computer” project by encouraging developers to base their projects on its technology.

Dfinity aims to build a “revolutionary public network” that slashes computing costs.

Dominic Williams, Dfinity's British founder has said: “We want people to abandon traditional IT and move all systems and services to smart contracts.”

Demand for cryptocurrencies such as Dfinity and other digital assets such as Bitcoin has soared in recent months.

Bitcoin hit a record high of $64,000 in April as investment interest soared around the float of Coinbase, a prominent US cryptocurrency exchange.

Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that began as a joke in 2013, has also soared in popularity in part due to frequent promotions by Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk.

The value of a single Dogecoin crashed more than 30pc last week, however, after Mr Musk discussed the digital asset when he hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live.