Five big reasons why people are still skeptical about bitcoin

By Lily Katz
Bloomberg News
Monday, May 29, 2017

Bitcoin's astronomical rally has cryptocurrency bulls feeling vindicated. Not so fast, skeptics say.

The digital currency's more than 100 percent surge in the past two months looks eerily familiar, argue the bears, pointing to November 2013, when the price quintupled in short order to top $1,000 for the first time. By Valentine's Day it was worth around half that, and spent the better part of the next two years languishing below $500.

Then it absolutely exploded -- jumping more than $1,400 in two months. At its height last week, one bitcoin could buy about two ounces of gold. Its champions touted the arrival of blockchain into the mainstream, the coin's underlying technology which they say can lift the poor out of poverty and make transactions more secure, inexpensive and efficient.

But signs of a top have emerged, detractors warn. On May 25, bitcoin surged more than $300 to a record only to turn tail and close little changed. The $600 round trip was the biggest daily swing in its history. It then slumped 8 percent the next day. Bitcoin was little changed at $2,310 as of 7:39 a.m. in New York. For bears, that kind of volatility shows the asset's unreliability as a store of value.

Here are some other reasons why they warn caution is warranted: ...

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-30/bitcoin-s-rapid-surge...