[LINK] $100 in bitcoin in 2010 – now worth $75 million.

[Stephen Loosley]

It's the online currency shrouded in a (literal) dark web of algorithms and accusations of illegal activity – and now bitcoin is making a select group of geeks very, very rich.

Bitcoin, since it's emergence in mid-2009, has reached an all-time trading high of $3080 Australian dollars.

According to CNBC, that means if you were to buy $100 worth of bitcoin on May 22nd 2010 – at a bargain price of $0.003 each – it would now be worth a whopping $75 million.

Few people – if any – picked up the crypto-currency at the bargain rate of $0.003, because by the time it hit the mainstream markets on the 1st of July 2013, it was trading at $113.35 each.

So what’s sparking the growth of bitcoin? Much like any other form of currency, politics have a big role to play.

In April this year, Japan passed legislation that allowed regular retailers – like clothes and electronics – to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.

This effectively legitimised the online currency in law, prompting many buyers to snap up as many "Bitcoins" as they could, desperate to get ahead of the expected wave of growth.

The more demand there was for Bitcoin, the more expensive it became. Since the start of the year Bitcoin's "monster" rally has seen its worth grow by almost 124 percent.

So does that make it a good investment?

It's impossible to say – since Bitcoin is not backed or regulated by any central bank or government, the base of knowledge needed to trade confidently is overwhelming to say the least.

https://finance.nine.com.au/2017/05/24/13/26/bitcoins-rally-100-in-2010-now-worth-75-million