A dollar spent on bitcoin 'lottery ticket' in 2010 now worth almost $4 million

The incredible bitcoin rally over the past seven years has professional investors and novices alike scratching their heads. The timid are left to wonder and watch as the fearless make a fortune.

It’s hard to believe, but one dollar worth of bitcoin bought in May 2010 is worth about $3.7 million today, that’s a surge of over nearly 370 million percent. Despite all the pessimistic forecasts, the world number one cryptocurrency managed to make it to over $11,000 per token from just 0.003 cents in 2010.

Bitcoin reached $1,000 at the start of the year, but the dizzying ride was just getting started. The cryptocurrency has increased dramatically in value throughout the year smashing record after record. In November it took bitcoin a little over two weeks to go from $7,000 to $8,000, just a week to reach $9,000, and only two days to cross $10,000 and $11,000.

The ultra-rapid surge of bitcoin has boosted the combined market value for all cryptocurrencies to a new high of $330 billion, with its own market cap soaring to over $185 billion. The number of bitcoin users has grown to three million so far with analysts expecting it to reach 200 million by 2024.

Some analysts remain skeptical about the digital currency, comparing its meteoric growth with historical financial bubbles of the past. According to Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the cryptocurrency is going to implode like US energy and commodities giant Enron, which went bankrupt in 2001 after its fraudulent structures and massive accounting irregularities were exposed.

Others like hedge fund legend Michael Novogratz remain firm believers the rally will continue. He predicts bitcoin could easily be at $40,000 by the end of next year.