After a generally quiet 2015, bitcoin, the alternative online currency, is making waves as the year ends by reaching new price heights.
Bitcoin is north of the $400 mark, once again, for the second time since 2014. This time, it has surpassed a prior boomlet, reaching price points not seen since late summer last year.
The price of bitcoin is only a single indicator but one that matters. The higher the price of bitcoin reaches, the more media attention that it is afforded. So, up means up.
Through the recent discussion of bitcoin and blockchain, the online foreign currency industry has seen a retread of the discussion of what it's all about. It is fad to argue blockchain over bitcoin Tech Crunch notes; it is fact to say that bitcoin matters as a financial incentive to keep the blockchain operative; and it is future-facing to watch bitcoin itself grow despite media handwringing.
So the last few weeks have been good for bitcoin. New local maxima on the price side? Sold. Rising transaction volume? Easy.
Bitcoin is currently confounding both its true believers and its core detractors. The former expected exponential growth. The latter, complete collapse. What 2016 holds for the fledgling currency anyone knows, but do not expect it to fall completely out of favor.
