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As of 11.33 this morning Bitcoin was selling for $12,198.57 according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin started 2017 at less than $1,000. In October it surpassed $5,000 and following that $11,000 less than two months later. The currency now boasts a market capitalisation of $203billion, higher than New Zealand and Greece's GDP as well as Goldman Sachs market capitalisation. Despite Bitcoin's huge gains it is still facing a lot of criticism from notable finacial professionals such as Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JP Morgan and ironically Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs.

GETTY Bitcoin breached $12,000 today

Mr Blankfein said commenting on the fact Bitcoin dropped by 20 per cent overnight on November 30: "Something that moves 20% [overnight] does not feel like a currency. It is a vehicle to perpetrate fraud." In contrast to Mr Dimon a JP Morgan analyst has come out saying that Bitcoin is the new gold and will become a strong asset class. Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale, however argued that Bitcoin is a: "toxic concept for investors." Still, both Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) have taken big steps to legitimise the cryptocurrency as they have announced a plan to start offering Bitcoin futures this month.

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