The frenzy even has parts of Wall Street concerned. A group of banks came out and complained that federal regulators approved bitcoin futures, which begin trading on Sunday, too quickly and without properly considering the inherent risks in the virtual currency.
At 1:05 p.m. EST, Bitcoin was valued at $16,825, according to Coinbase, after briefly surging above $19,000 this morning.
At the start of the year, one bitcoin was worth less than $1,000.
Coinbase, the largest bitcoin exchange, at one point tweeted that record-high traffic had caused interruptions to its service.
The swings in price occurred just as the trading community prepares for bitcoin to start trading on two established U.S. exchanges. Futures for bitcoin will start trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Sunday evening and on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange a week later.
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