The digital currency known as Bitcoins recently broke a record of $32 this week. As of Friday midday (ET), the Bitcoin price was $35.31701, according to the MT Gox exchange.
The earlier record Bitcoin price was $31.9099, which was set on June 9, 2011. Bitcoins were at $31.94 on Feb. 27 before breaking $32.
“The event is a historic one for Bitcoin,” according to a report from Bitcoin Magazine. “When the initial Bitcoin bubble of summer 2011 collapsed, a number of media sources quickly spread the message that Bitcoin was a foolish crypto-anarchist dream and a fad that failed, and it was time to move on to more ‘legitimate’ products backed by the full support of the banking establishment.”
Some predicted the demise of the Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Magazine, however, cited how the Gartner (News - Alert) Group Hype Cycle could be applied to the digital currency. New technologies often see five-stages: the initial trigger, inflated expectations, disillusionment, enlightenment and a “plateau of productivity.”
“It is quite possible that a new hype cycle will begin as Bitcoin truly breaks into the mainstream, and new groups of more professional speculators and investors seize upon the currency as a stock,” Bitcoin Magazine predicts.
The recent price increase for Bitcoins came at the same time as Japan’s MT Gox exchange partnered with CoinLab to bring its operations to the United States, the BBC said.
Unlike with dollars or pounds, Bitcoins are not issued by a central bank nor government authority. Bitcoins can be exchanged for real money. Still, many Americans may never have heard of Bitcoins – but someday it may be the way they get their paychecks.
The move to use the digital currency got a boost last week after the Internet Archive, a digital library, announced it is considering paying its employees in Bitcoins – if they want.