October is not the Fall (season) for Bitcoin

The Bitcoin price (BTC/USD) broke through the $6,000 on Saturday, setting a new record high of $6,194.88, according to Coinmarketcap. The price increase allowed Bitcoin’s market capitalisation to exceed $100 billion for the first time. Bitcoin has since then retreated to lower levels and is currently trading in the low $5,900.

Bitcoin initially breached the $6,000 threshold Friday morning at only one exchange, Hong Kong-based Bitfinex, where investors can buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. After remaining just a few dollars shy of the mark at other digital currency exchanges such as Coinbase, which is headquartered in San Francisco, Bitcoin officially crossed the milestone on all trading venues just as U.S. stock markets closed Friday.

The rise in price – around 64% in the last 30 days – has left Bitcoin holders smiling, and those who thought the price to buy was too high at $3,600 kicking themselves.

Richard Turnill is the chief investment strategist for BlackRock – the world’s largest asset manager – and according to him, the fair price of Bitcoin is unknown. Turnill said in an interview that Bitcoin has recently experienced “spectacular price increases”, which give it the characteristics of a bubble. Due to this, there is no way to assess the “fair value” of Bitcoin.

“The main argument for buying is that prices have risen and are therefore going to continue to rise over time. But there’s no inherent right or wrong price for Bitcoin,” he said.

The cryptocurrency’s rally comes despite other disparaging comments by influential figures including former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke (who suggested this week that Bitcoin would fail) as well as criticism by J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

Still, Bitcoin bulls are setting their sights on the potential release of a Bitcoin exchange traded fund, a product that would trade on the regular stock market, opening up the digital asset to a broader array of investors. One attempt to launch a Bitcoin ETF was rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, but plans for others are in the works. A representative for Digital Currency Group, the investment firm backed by entrepreneur (and Bitcoin advocate) Barry Silbert, said last week it was currently in talks with the SEC about launching its own publicly traded product, despite withdrawing its application for a listing last month.