Bitcoin speeds past $US8000 as its white-knuckle rollercoaster ride accelerates

Bitcoin’s relentless and volatile rally shows no sign of abating, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency defying growing bubble fears to hit yet another milestone.

Bitcoin rose as much as 6.7 per cent to a record $US8224 ($10,898) as of 9.27am in New York. It’s been a tumultuous year for the virtual currency, with three separate slumps of more than 25 per cent all giving way to subsequent rallies.

“The inflation in this thing is massive,” Luke Hickmore, a senior investment manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments in London, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “When will it collapse? Who knows. It will cause a lot of pain.”

Even as many sceptics call the asset a bubble waiting to pop, it’s becoming too big for many on Wall Street to ignore. CME Group, the world’s biggest exchange, will start offering futures trading on bitcoin next month, while senior executives at Goldman Sachs Group and Citigroup have said they are researching cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology that underlies them.

 

‘It simply bounces back even stronger’

 

Recent volatility has stemmed from a pickup in people switching to alternative virtual currencies, notably bitcoin cash. That’s gaining popularity due to lower transaction costs and faster speed. New cryptocurrency iterations are springing up as disagreements over bitcoin’s design persist and opportunities for making a quick buck prove hard to pass up.

Bitcoin cash dropped 0.6 per cent on Monday to trade at $US1184, down from a high of $1388 on November 12, Coinmarketcap.com prices show. Bitcoin has advanced more than 700 per cent this year and now boasts a market value of more than $US130 billion.

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Source: Bitcoin speeds past $US8000 as its white-knuckle rollercoaster ride accelerates | afr.com