By now, you might be getting sick of reading about bitcoin in the news. The last few weeks have seen incredible highs and lows reached by the cryptocurrency, and for now, at least, there is no end in sight. This year, it has smashed psychological barrier after psychological barrier, and 2017 thus far as a whole has seen an 860% increase in its price.
At 09:00 UTC today, Bitcoin broke its latest record, reaching $9,731.51. This isn’t the first record it’s broken this month, as it broke two earlier in November: the $8000 point on November 19th and just a bit higher, $8121 on November 20th.
Although in general, most analysts and financial experts have remained skeptical in regards to the continued rise of bitcoin, the recent announcement made by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on October 31st about the launch of bitcoin futures paired with countries like Japan and England normalizing the use of bitcoin in routine transactions indicates that it very well could continue its meteoric rise.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is selling at $9647.65. This price puts it at a valuation of seven times the worth of one ounce of gold, and on the stock market, it has found itself alongside the likes of IBM, Disney, and McDonald’s. Probably, the most popular question recently is what is the right choice for investment: Gold as a physical precious metal or Bitcoin as a digital currency. It’s an individual choice for every investor, but we all should remember that gold has been traded since ancient time and it continues to have a high demand among dealers and investors.
Most predictions are estimating that the bubble will eventually pop, but some disagree. One adviser at ASR Wealth, Shane Chanel, actually predicts a high of $12,000 will be reached in the next six months. For now, that five-figure mark of $10,000 really does not seem very far off.
Overall, it seems no exaggeration to say that we are witnessing the “Great Bitcoin Boom of 2017”.
