GETTY Cryptocurrency exchanges have been caught unprepared for the massive inflow of new customers

FREE now SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Make the most of your money by signing up to our newsletter fornow We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Cryptocurrency exchanges have been caught unprepared for the massive inflow of new customers as the crypto phenomenon takes the world by storm. According to Coinmarketcap, a website that tracks cryptocurrency markets, Binance was the most active cryptocurrency exchange over the past 24 hours with £4.4 billion ($6.1 billion) worth of trades. The company added 240,000 users in just one hour on Wednesday which surpassed all growth records. Binance is based in Hong Kong. Billionaire Warren Buffett has heavily criticised the crypto boom saying it is a bubble that is not going to end well.

Speaking to CNBC, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said: “In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending.” Mr Buffet said he is unsure when the cryptocurrencies bubble will burst but he is “certain” it will happen. He said: “I know this. If I could buy long-term puts. If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies – I’d be glad to do it. But I would never short a dime’s worth." Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng said: “Warren Buffett is a guy I truly respect from an investment point of view. But I do not think he understands cryptocurrencies at all. It is what it is. I still respect him in other parts of his expertise. But I think on cryptocurrencies he’s making a big mistake.” Mr Zhao is himself surprised by the surge in Binance, saying the company had not expected the increase.

Cryptocurrency price: A year in charts Mon, March 12, 2018 Compare crypto currencies (Ripple, Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin) on value, market cap and supply for the past year Play slideshow coindesk.com 1 of 10 LiteCoin is going down with the market dip

The exchange temporarily closed new registration last week while an update was made to allow high volumes. Gregory Van den Bergh, co-founder and CEO of MiCai, a Blockchain based wealth management firm, said: “We are just at the early stage of the crypto adoption curve. Binance and other crypto exchanges are still serving the crypto, early adopters. The next phase of adoption will come from the 30 tln dollars that are currently actively managed on behalf of high net worth individuals across the globe.” The most popular digital token trading on Binance was TRON, accounting for 10 per cent of their trading, while bitcoin was only the third most popular digital currency on the platform. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s new rival Stellar is the “faster and cheaper” cryptocurrency that traders are encouraging investors to buy. Ripple creators have split and developed a new cryptocurrency called Stellar, which is similar to Ripple and expected to be the next big cryptocurrency, trader Brian Kelly has said.

GETTY Billionaire Warren Buffett has heavily criticised the crypto boom

Speaking to CNBC, money manager Mr Kelly said: “Stellar is one that is very similar to Ripple. It is created by one of the creators of Ripple. “Effectively, the company split and they went out and created Stellar. They are already working with IBM, they are beginning to deal with them to do cross-border payments. “So IBM has a payment system similar to kind of what Moneygram wants to do. “It’s faster and cheaper than Bitcoin and what I mean by that is you can move stuff around faster and it’ll cost you less than Bitcoin at this point in time.”

GETTY Ripple creators have split and developed a new cryptocurrency called Stellar

Everything you need to know about bitcoin Mon, October 30, 2017 How to buy bitcoin: Everything you need to know about cryptocurrency wallets and bitcoin cash. Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 13 Bitcoin is a new kind of money