The steadily skyrocketing price have many experts warning that bitcoin is in a bubble
Exactly one week after the price of bitcoin topped $10,000 for the first time, the cryptocurrency shot to another record Sunday, peaking at $11,773.
That capped a 30% surge since Thursday, when bitcoin (BTCUSD, +5.14%) bottomed out at $9,021 after plunging more then 20% from last weekend’s high. At one point Sunday, bitcoin jumped more than $500 in an hour.
By Sunday night, bitcoin had settled to $11,434.
Its offshoot, bitcoin cash, also surged Sunday, peaking at $1,606 — just off its all-time high of $1,621 — before setting to $1,574 by Sunday night, and ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rose to $480 before dipping back to $468.
Bitcoin’s market cap as of Sunday night stood at $192.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.com, and its price is up more than 1,000% this year.
The steadily skyrocketing price — interrupted by wild swings — have many experts warning that bitcoin is in a bubble that’s bound to pop.
Last week, Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said bitcoin is “smoke and mirrors” and “ought to be outlawed” because of its lack of oversight.
MarketWatch columnist Mark Hulbert also predicted a greater-than-80% chance that bitcoin would soon crash.
But the naysayers aren’t scaring off the die-hards.
Former hedge-fund manager Michael Novogratz recently predicted bitcoin could hit $40,000 by the end of 2018, and last week software tycoon John McAfee doubled down on his bet to self-cannibalize if bitcoin doesn’t hit $1 million by 2020.
Source: MarketWatch – Bitcoin rebounds, surges above $11,700 for yet another record
