The digital currency has a market value north of $500 billion. Think Bitcoin is just a fad? It's worth more than Visa or Mastercard . Or Walmart .
Bitcoin passed $20,000 for the first time just 11 days ago. Now it's knocking at $30,000's door.
Also aiding in bitcoin's soaring valuation: Big, name-brand investors are stockpiling it, and huge consumer companies are embracing it. That's adding a dose of validity and appeal to cryptocurrency for mainstream investors. For example, a top executive at BlackRock recently said the cryptocurrency can replace gold, and Square and PayPal have both embraced bitcoin.
As bitcoin surges to all-time highs, cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase, the most prominent cryptocurrency exchange, has signaled its intent to go public.
Still, the recent cryptocurrency surge is showing signs of a melt-up - over-enthusiasm fueled by the fear of missing out, not simply market fundamentals. Take Elon Musk's sarcastic tweet about bitcoin rival Dogecoin last week: The digital coin, which itself was constructed as a cryptocurrency parody, shot up 20% immediately after Musk threw his support behind it on Twitter.
Anhony Scaramucci, Skybridge Capital's founder, has a big stake in bitcoin, but even he says people need to watch out. He told CNN Business earlier this month that it could be a solid addition to the average investor's portfolio - but you've got to have the stomach for it.
On CNN Business' "Markets Now" live show earlier this month, Scaramucci said people have begun to accept bitcoin - and since it appears in so few portfolios, it has plenty of room to grow. Still, bitcoin is a volatile asset and will be a risky holding if you invest in it.
"This thing has a tendency to crash up," he said. "It is due for a correction, and these corrections can be violent."
Scaramucci said bitcoin could suddenly tumble 20% to 50%.
"You have to be very cautious," he added.
But he also highlighted bitcoin's staying power over the course of the past decade: If you took $1 and put 99 cents of it in cash and a penny in bitcoin, that investment strategy would have outperformed $1 invested in the S&P 500 over the last 10 years, he noted.
"Bitcoin's best days are ahead of it, but it's going to be volatile and I think people need to be prepared for it," Scaramucci told CNN Business.
