Rs 10,000 invested in this 'currency' in 2010 would have got you Rs 66 crore today

A small Rs 10,000 investment made in the digital currency bitcoin in 2010 would have increased 66,00,000%, netting the investor a cool Rs 66 crore.

In 2010, bitcoin—the cryptocurrency that had then come into being only a year back—was valued at the average of USD 0.06 or Rs. 2.85.

Bitcoin hit a record-high of USD 2,779 yesterday,  stunning investors and observers around the world. It has appreciated 150 percent year to date.

The cryptocurrency got a shot in the arm following the bitcoin community recently reaching a consensus on the scaling issue that earlier capped the total production at the projected amount of 21 million.

A pact signed by more than 50 companies for increasing the block size and activating Segregated Witness -- a new way of verifying transactions -- was posted by Digital Currency Group on its blog.

Though Bitcoin’s present popularity is unprecedented in the world of cryptocurrency, which used to be a niche community even four-five years back, it was not unforeseen given the rapid development in the digital sphere in terms of business.

Bank of America’s currency analyst Merrill Lynch wrote in a 2013 report: “We believe Bitcoin can become a major means of payment for e-commerce and may emerge as a serious competitor to traditional money transfer providers.”

Although late to start, India is also catching up on the bitcoin market. Earlier this month, a bitcoin exchange app Zebpay announced its app had reached 500,000 downloads on Android Play Store in India. But the increase in number of bitcoin users in India has got a negative reaction from the government.

The regulatory gray area around bitcoins, and the perception it can be used for illegal transactions with impunity, have always weighed on the instrument.

Nonetheless, many believe that the idea of a decentralised currency powered by a technological solution (blockchain) is an idea whose time has come.

Bitcoin’s blockchain technology with its security, anonymity, minuscule transaction charge, and a new promise of decreasing the transaction time, is lucrative to investors, corporate organizations, and financial services companies alike.