The question of how high bitcoin can fly looms large after the digital currency shot past $3,000 a bitcoin for the first time ever.

But Monday served as a reminder that volatility may be the rule, not the exception, as bulls and bears lock horns about the prospects for the rapidly ascending cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin BTCUSD, -0.22% reached $3,018.66 before abruptly pulling back to around $2,808.35, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin had surpassed that level for the first time on Sunday, though it only held that level for a while.

Coindesk noted prices fell $300 within minutes on Monday, from $2,980 to a daily low of $2,650, just hours after that $3,000 level was reached. BTC VIX, organizer of the bitcoin trading forum Whale Club, told CoinDesk that prices hitting a higher high on less volume and “waning momentum,” adding that it could be a sign of weaker prices ahead.

A volatile day Coindesk

As well, CoinDesk said some blame could be assigned to long bitcoin positions being closed out on OKCoin, a major leveraged bitcoin exchange.

Meanwhile, rival cybercurrencies were also gaining on Monday. Ethereum hit around $353 on Sunday, and was trading recently around $336.80, according to CoinDesk. While bitcoin is “growing at a very nice pace, inflows to its rivals are greater than those of bitcoin, cryptocurrency hedge-fund manager Tim Enneking told CoinDesk.

The market value of ethereum sits at $37,960,294,184, which is still behind the top cryptocurrency, bitcoin, with a market cap of $47,434,889, 723, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Last week, total market cap of a cluster of cryptocurrencies surged past $100 billion for the first time.

Read:All of the digital money in the world, in one chart

The volatility for bitcoin may reflect the battle between the bulls and the bears over its direction. Max Kaiser, host of the radio show Russian Today and a bitcoin analyst, tweeted his prediction Monday that $5,000 will be the next level to watch as more hedge funds decide to invest:

Josiah Hernandez, chief strategy officer at Coinsource, tweeted over the weekend that as of Friday, over $1.5 trillion in value has been transacted via bitcoin:

But he also voiced concerns that cryptocurrencies are starting to bubble over, and that he thinks they are overvalued by around $50 billion:

Fierce criticism of bitcoin came last week from outspoken billionaire Mark Cuban, who triggered a drop in the cryptocurrency after a bubble warning to his 7.1 million Twitter followers. He was again questioning bitcoin again on Sunday, asking about how often owners of bitcoin are using it to make purchases:

Read:Is bitcoin in a bubble? This metric suggests there’s more room to grow

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