Cryptocurrency Bitcoin has reached an all-time high of $5,186.
The digital currency started off the year worth $966 and has increased in value by a massive 750 percent over the past year.
Hedge fund manager, Michael Novogratz, believes the currency has the potential to hit $10,000 over the next six to ten months.
It has been a volatile journey, with the cryptocurrency sliding down to under $3,000 last month when Chinese authorities announced a ban on trading the currency. The crackdown was amid fears that a rapid increase in consumers could lead to wider financial solutions.
Aurelien Menant, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin, said: “Speculators are bullish on bitcoin’s value with the anticipation of China’s reintegration with global crypto markets,”
Reports have recently emerged stating that trading in the currency could resume but with increased regulation.
The cryptocurrency is highly controversial, with JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon saying that it was only suitable for drug dealers, murderers and people living in North Korea.
Banks have raised concerns about the currency and associations with online crime and money laundering. Despite this, Goldman Sachs is open to the Bitcoin currency and is exploring a bitcoin trading operation.
Professor of economics and public policy at Harvard University, Kenneth Rogoff, expects the price of Bitcoin to collapse.
“It is folly to think that bitcoin will ever be allowed to supplant central-bank-issued money,” he wrote in The Guardian. “It is one thing for governments to allow small anonymous transactions with virtual currencies; indeed, this would be desirable. But it is an entirely different matter for governments to allow large-scale anonymous payments, which would make it extremely difficult to collect taxes or counter criminal activity.”
Despite the warnings and controversy surrounding Bitcoin, Japan and several other countries are recognising the currency as a payment method.