Bitcoin broke through the $50,000 barrier on Thursday and was trading just below the $51,000 mark Friday as the cryptocurrency’s solid leg up followed stocks and other risk assets upward in what may signal a year-end “Santa Claus Rally.” The world’s leading cryptocurrency had been stuck below the psychological barrier of $50,000 for two weeks when Thursday’s rally cracked that ceiling. Bitcoin was trading at $50,929 as of 7:38 a.m. New York time on Christmas Eve. Investor appetite for risk firmed on Thursday, as markets appeared to shrug off Omicron concerns and worries that a faster wind-down of stimulus by the Federal Reserve would hobble the tailwind that has helped lift risk assets like crypto and stocks. Most Asian equity markets edged higher and the S&P 500 closed at a record high overnight on positive economic data, such as U.S. weekly jobless claims running at pre-pandemic levels, and as some …