Bitcoin has reached its highest ever value, trading at US$278 this morning and beating its previous record of US$267 reached in April 2013.
The peak value is being recorded on the popular Mt Gox Bitcoin exchange site and will be a boost to supporters of the digital, borderless currency which also has its fair share of sceptics.
HumanIPO reported yesterday a team of researches at Cornell University, United States, described it as “broken” and not safe, while its value dropped sharply in October when the controversial website Silk Road, which offers drugs and other illegal items for sale and sees high usage of Bitcoin transactions due to its anonymous nature, was shutdown and its founder arrested.
Speaking to HumanIPO at the time, South African banking and mobile expert Duncan Arthur said he was not put off by the dip because it proved Bitcoin was behaving like a real currency.
Look at movements of a state backed means of exchange if you don’t believe day-by-day fluctuations can be so dramatic.
“If a real country suddenly had a stream of revenue drop off, it’s currency would take a knock.”
HumanIPO reported in August Germany had become the first country to officially recognise the “borderless currency”, which had not yet been regulated by any government or supported by any central bank.
Arthur believes critics should ignore Bitcoin “at your own peril!” and is confident it could have a range of uses.
He added: “What’s interesting is that Bitcoin didn’t crash entirely. Either Bitcoin is a source of reserve where investors are in for the longer haul, enough people have built enough faith in its future as an alternative means of exchange or a mix of both.”
