Bitcoin passed $18,000 when it began trading on the Cboe on 10 December, causing excitement in some, angst in others
The controversial cryptocurrency began trading on a futures exchange on the Chicago board options exchange (Cboe), at a price of $15,000. It wasn’t long before the digical currency climbed past the $18,000 mark.
Bitcoin’s listing marks the first opportunity for professional traders to invest in the cryptocurrency. Indeed, there was so much anticipation of the listing that Bitcoin experienced a sharp price increase in recent weeks. The currency has had an incredible year, opening 2017 at around $1,000, surging past $10,000 for the first time in November, and sitting currently at around $16,700.
Despite the hype, there are many who believe Bitcoin is a bubble waiting to burst. Belinda Boa, BlackRocks head of active investments for Asia-Pacific, said recently that the company’s view is that bitcoin “isn’t a financial asset like we would trade in terms of equities and fixed-income instruments” and that it was seeing “sort of bubble-like valuations”.
Boa, and many financial experts like her, believe it is not a matter of if bitcoin will collapse, but when. Because of this, they expect to see much volatility in the space in the coming months.
