Bitcoin breaks $57,000 as big buyers circle

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency bitcoin hit a two-year high above $57,000 in Asia trade on Tuesday on signs of heavy institutional buying, while smaller rival ether topped $3,200 for the first time in two years.

Bitcoin has rallied more than 10% in two sessions, helped by a Monday disclosure from crypto investor and software firm MicroStrategy that it had recently purchased about 3,000 bitcoins for an outlay of $155 million.

The original and largest cryptocurrency by market value has also been buoyed recently by the approval of bitcoin-owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. On Monday, trading volumes in several of the funds spiked and crypto-linked firms rallied too, in contrast to nervous broader markets.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Tom Hogue)