A buying frenzy saw the Bitcoin price surge by almost US$500 in the early hours of this morning (Australian time) and by late afternoon Bitcoin traded around US$12,780, up 5% for the day.

The price action has seen Bitcoin nudge closer to its year-to-date high of US$13,880, recorded last month following the announcement of Facebook’s cryptocurrency development.

The bullish move was greeted with optimism by Morgan Creek Capital Management CEO, Mark Yusko.

“Over the past year Bitcoin is up 70, seven zero percent, everyone thinks it’s in this bear market… It’s the best performing major asset class this year,” Yusko told CNBC.

“We’re in the next parabolic move, that will take us probably into the $30,000 level before we get another correction and then, look, there’s a great path… to, you know, $100,000 by 2021. ”

However, high-profile Bitcoin critics have gained traction in other mainstream media across the world.

Prominent Italian economist: ‘It’s a pyramid scheme’

The CEO of Italian investment firm Finlabo SIM, Alessandro Guzzini, has labelled Bitcoin a pyramid scheme in an article published in one of Italy’s biggest newspapers, La Repubblica.

“Whoever buys a bitcoin essentially remunerates the seller exclusively, therefore the increase in value of the currency derives exclusively from the continuous presence of a flow of buyers able to support the price…the operation of the Bitcoin is much more similar to that of a pyramid scheme than to that of a currency system,” Guzzini wrote

Guzzini’s theory is based on wallet address information collated from bitinfocharts.com, in which he claims shows the top 152 thousand Bitcoin holders control the entire market.

“According to the site bitinfocharts.com that analyses the addresses of the portfolios that own Bitcoin, the vast majority belong to a few individuals who were probably among the creators of the scheme.

“Less than 2,000 subjects alone own about 42% of the Bitcoins for a counter-value at market prices of about 75 billion dollars, these individuals on average have earned just under 40 million dollars each thanks to the Bitcoin.

“Below the top of the pyramid there is a second band made up of about 150,000 individuals who own about 45% of the Bitcoins.

“At the base of the pyramid there are finally about 25 million subjects who own from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars in Bitcoin, these are probably people who have entered the Bitcoin business in the last two years attracted by advertisements and the promise of easy earnings. Their earning possibilities depend on whether others are attracted by the scheme.”

Guzzini’s Bitcoin criticisms come after award-winning Australian financial and business commentator, Peter Switzer, called for Bitcoin to be banned.

The journalist admitted he decided to go public about a Bitcoin ban after watching an episode of US TV series, Billions.