Economic guru Peter Boockvar doesn’t expect the investment phenomenon of the controversial digital currency bitcoin to last much longer.
"When something goes parabolic like this has, it typically ends up to where that parabola began," Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, recently told CNBC.
"I wouldn't be surprised if over the next year it's down to $1,000 to $3,000," he added.
isn't alone in his skepticism about bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world.
The U.S. securities regulator also has raised alarm about the safety of bitcoin-themed investments, telling the fund industry they want answers to their concerns before endorsing more than a dozen proposed products based on cryptocurrencies.
A top division chief at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission detailed the agency’s concerns about the wild-trading investment in a letter to two trade groups representing fund managers who unleashed a range of proposals for funds holding bitcoin or related assets, Reuters said.
The SEC’s division of investment management demanded answers to at least 31 detailed questions about how mutual funds or exchange-traded funds based on bitcoin would store, safeguard, and price that asset.
They also asked whether investors can understand the risks and how to address concerns that bitcoin markets could be manipulated.
In addition, the U.S. derivatives watchdog said on Friday that it has filed charges against three separate virtual currency operators alleging the defendants had defrauded customers and broken other commodity trading rules, in a further sign regulators globally are cracking down on the emerging asset class.
The lawsuits, filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a New York district court, come amid heightened fears globally over the risks that bitcoin and other virtual currencies may pose to investors and the global financial system, Reuters explained.
However, Newsmax Finance Insider Nigel Green predicts that cryptocurrencies are here to stay despite volatility.
"The world has changed in three key ways that back the rise and rise of digital currencies," Green recently wrote for Newsmax Finance.
"First, technology. Tech plays a huge part of our lives, which will continue to increase as time goes on. As well as existing technologies, pioneering advancements are forecast to make a huge impact on every aspect of everyday life. In the vein, are finances will be no exception," Green wrote.
"Second, politics. As the world changes politically, the demand for privacy from non- government or bank-controlled currencies is rising. Indeed, with cryptocurrencies, there is no requirement to share transaction details, identity or location information. Moreover, many supporters maintain that cryptocurrencies are the right to the wrongs of the traditional financial system," Green wrote.
"Third, globalization. The world is becoming ever-more globalized, and that’s something that isn’t going to change. People are becoming more inter-reliant and globally-focused than ever before. Of course, this can present important advantages for worldwide trade and commerce."
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).