Further evidence of the volatility of Bitcoin, the virtual distributed ledger currency, which operates without supervision, or central bank support.
Bitcoin touched an all-time high of $19,896 on December 17 having passed the $15,000 mark on December 7. It’s slumped over the past few days, to a low of $12,504 before recovering somewhat. It is still up over 1,100 percent this year. Bitcoin is not alone, the other 20 or so crypto-currencies also retraced.
Many say serious numbers of unsophisticated investors have been piling in (even buying Bitcoins on their credit cards!). This volatility is likely to continue, and prospective investors need to be aware they may loose their investment, they may not – there can be no certainties.
Opinion is split as to whether this is simply a speculative bubble similar to “Tulip Mania” or whether there is more here about a potential digital replacement for the US$. We suspect the former is closer to the truth.
The classic bubble shape of the South Sea Bubble is often cited and is an interesting case study.
