Neil DennisBitcoin's inexorable rise towards $10,000 continued on Tuesday, looking at one point it could make the landmark level by the end of the day.
By some measures Bitcoin has already passed $10,000, including on the CEX cryptocurrency exchange, but the listing on Reuters showed the cryptocurrency was up 1.63% at $9,887.
Given recent volatility in the currency, however, it could conceivably reach five figures by the end of the day - or even fall back below $9,000.
Such has been the meteoric rise is has come under much analyst scrutiny.
Systemic rise
Nicholas Gregory, chief executive of CommerceBlock, the cryptocurrency business enabler, said: "The current momentum is less technical than systemic."
"The cryptocurrency's momentum is being driven by a growing sense among speculators that the banking industry is firmly in its cross hairs. Increasingly, traders and speculators are looking at banks as Blockbuster Video and Bitcoin as Netflix."
Currency status questioned
But Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo Markets said: " Can it really be called a currency with 15% fluctuation in a day?"
"It now seems only a matter of time before it breaks through $10,000. The demand for the asset is huge, with speculators driving the price higher, and in most cases there are 20 buyers for every one seller.
“For an idea of basis, it began the year at just over $1,000."