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How long can Bitcoin continue to rise?

The popular cryptocurrency breached the $7,000 level on Thursday and is now trading at around $7,300, climbing more than 70% just in the past month, according to Coindesk. The Bitcoin Investment Trust (ticker: GBTC) settled at $927 on Thursday, a 46% premium to its net asset value, and is gaining still.

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Excitement around Bitcoin is at fever pitch. CME Group (CME) recently announced that it will offer Bitcoin futures before the end of the year, assuming it gets the go-ahead from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the CFTC has a friendlier stance on cryptocurrency than the Securities & Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, Amazon.com (AMZN) has acquired three crypto domains: amazonethereum.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com, and amazoncryptocurrencies.com. And it already owns amazonbitcoin.com.

Fundstrat's Thomas Lee, who has been bullish on Bitcoin all summer, has turned cautious. He still sees Bitcoin going to $25,000 by 2022, but expects little upside in the near-term. Lee notes that since 2013, 94% of Bitcoin's change in price can be explained by "underlying and contemporaneous transaction activity," and based on his assessment, bitcoin is trading at a 41% premium --the highest since 2014 -- relative to that value. In a note published yesterday, Lee wrote:

For those tactically minded, we would be buyers of Bitcoin in the $5,500 range, but such a pullback does not need to happen. For long-term oriented, we do not advise any action. In the short-term, the same applies to GBTC, where we see it more attractive at $750.

Of course, not everyone agrees that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are an asset class. DataTrek Research's Nick Colas in a note published Friday morning argued that cryptos are too small, don't have a strong enough regulatory framework around it, and doesn't exhibit a "level of homogeneity" to meet the standard definition of an asset. "Bitcoin and Ethereum -- the two largest crypto currencies by market cap -- are not the same in terms of structure or purpose. In fact, they aren't even close," Colas said.