The cryptocurrency, bitcoin, briefly passed the $3,000 milestone on June 11 but has since taken a dive to just under $2,800. The heights that it reached yesterday means that it has passed a new record, one of several it has set in just the past couple of months, it was only the third week of May when bitcoin passed the $2,000 threshold.
Arthur Hayes, the founder of the BitMEX exchange, said that bitcoin was like an entry into cryptocurrencies:
“As investors marvel at bitcoin’s historical returns and the returns of altcoins, their natural first purchase is bitcoin. Bitcoin has underperformed other coin this year, it is now playing catch up.”
This sentiment was echoed by investor Sean Walsh who said:
“Bitcoin still seems like the dominant gateway to [alternative cryptocurrencies]. So, many first purchase bitcoin in order to then trade their bitcoin for altcoins.”
It’s unclear what the future of bitcoin will have in store, bullish spectators claim that it could eventually reach the soaring heights of $100,000 while others, such as the futurist Ray Kurzweil cast doubt over the entire concept of bitcoin due to its instability while maintaining that the blockchain that powers bitcoin is a more useful technology that could be put to some other use.
Source: Coindesk | Image via Bitcoin Gator