Investing.com - Arguably the biggest craze in global financial markets in 2017 was the cryptocurrency takeover, which coincided with declining interest in more traditional financial assets, such as stocks and commodity futures.
Back in June, the combined market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies hit a notable milestone when the industry surpassed the $100-billion-mark for the first time in history. Since then, that number has ballooned by almost 500% to $510 billion.
The lion’s share of that interest is focused on Bitcoin, possibly the world's most popular cryptocurrency. It started 2017 at $966.60 before soaring to an all-time high of $17,500 on December 12, marking a year-to-date gain of approximately 1,600%.
Besides Bitcoin, there are plenty of other lesser known alternative digital currencies that have enjoyed a remarkable run-up in prices so far this year, such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, NEM, DASH and IOTA.
The massive gains have helped give cryptocurrencies legitimacy in the eyes of some traders, but analysts have warned that an asset bubble is building.
The question on everybody's mind is when will the bubble finally pop.
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