Bitcoin saw its highest trading volume in exchanges this year

Supporters of the cryptocurrency bitcoin are having an awesome time last week. Bitcoin Magazine reports that the trade volumes in bitcoin exchanges saw its highest for the year. Citing Genesis Trading, the magazine said over the counter (OTC) trading also took off with over three times the usual trading volumes.

Bitcoin saw a 40,000 percent surge in trading volume in the Gemini exchange also over the past week. According to Crypto Coins News, the surge was the first in three weeks since the exchange debuted. Gemini is reportedly owned by the Winklevoss twins, who gained notoriety in the tech startup thanks to its unfortunate ties with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Gemini, which targets the stock market investor, considers transactions involving 50 bitcoins or more as high.

Andrew Hecht for Seeking Alpha postulates that gold’s unsuccessful rally attempt, slew of economic issues in Europe, and China’s slow economy, cryptocurrency has been attractive to investors simply because it its the next best thing to trade.

“As a burgeoning means of exchange, Bitcoin tends to trade more like a commodity, an asset rather than a mature currency,” he wrote.