Bitcoin O Mania

Now market watchers say a significant amount of the new money is coming from large institutional investors, many of them hedge funds looking to capitalize on the skyrocketing price. Many of the hedge funds were set up over the last year to invest exclusively in virtual currencies. The research firm Autonomous Next has said the number of such hedge funds has risen from around 30 to nearly 130 this year alone. More general-purpose hedge funds have also been buying up Bitcoin, like one run by Bill Miller, a well known mutual fund manager who spent most of his career with Legg Mason. Even more big investors are looking at the space after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange announced last week that it would launch a Bitcoin futures contract in the next few months. The contract will make it easier for financial institutions plugged into the exchange to get involved with the Bitcoin market without having to worry about holding Bitcoin itself. Bobby Cho, the head trader at one of the larg...

Dado Ruvic | Reuters Goldman Sachs expects bitcoin will hit new records, despite a roughly $600 drop in the digital currency from all-time highs. "The market has shown evidence of an impulsive rally since breaking above 6,044," Sheba Jafari, vice president on the bank's FICC Market Strats team, said in a Sunday note. "Next in focus [$]7,941. Might consolidate there before continuing higher." Bitcoin has surged more than sevenfold this year. The digital currency hit a record high of $7,601.53 over the weekend before briefly dropping below $7,000 Sunday, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin was trading around $7,092 Monday afternoon, leaving room for about 12 percent in gains to Jafari's $7,941 level. Bitcoin over the last six months Source: Goldman Sachs To Goldman's Jafari, reaching that price would mark the third of "five-waves up" for bitcoin. In mid-August, she said bitcoin was riding a "fifth wave" of an "impulsive...

MI Bitcoin, the red-hot digital currency, was trading down Monday morning after hitting an all-time high above $7,600 on Sunday.  The cryptocurrency was trading down 1.5% Monday at $7,295 per coin.  Bitcoin spiked after CME, one of the largest exchange groups in the world, announced it would launch a bitcoin futures product by the end of the year.  A looming fork in bitcoin's underpinning network might have also played a roll in its price run-up.  Bitcoin, the seemingly unstoppable digital currency, gave up some of its gains Monday morning after breaking through an all-time high above $7,600 on Sunday.  The price of bitcoin was down 1.5% at $7,295 a coin Monday, according to data from Markets Insider. Bitcoin spiked after CME, one of the largest exchange groups in the world said it was preparing to launch a bitcoin futures product by the end of the year. Since the announcement bitcoin has gained over $1,000 a coin. The ...