In total, there are more than 1,000 crypto-currencies with a market cap of over $589 billion.

Barely a day goes by without a warning being fired over bitcoin and its bubble-like properties or an ambitious forecast made of its future price. 

Yesterday was no exception, as UBS, the world’s largest wealth manager, said that the crypto-currency could crash following the launch of CME Group’s bitcoin futures on Sunday. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum was Swissquote, the online bank headquartered in the Alpine state, which said that bitcoin’s price should soar to $100,000 within the next few years.

“Who would have thought at the start of 2017 that bitcoin would increase 20-fold?” Yann Quelenn, market analyst at Swissquote, said. “That was simply unpredictable. In the short run, bitcoin is likely to reach $25,000. A correction is due at some point, but within the next few years it should easily reach $100,000.”

Quelenn’s comments came as his firm added four new crypto-currencies – bitcoin cash, ethereum, litecoin and ripple – to its roster of tradable assets, which has included bitcoin since July.

Swissquote clients can now invest in the five crypto-currencies against the euro or the US dollar through their trading account, just as they would with any other currency, absent of access to leverage. 

“Because there is no leverage, there is no risk of losing more than the invested amount,” Swissquote said in a statement. 

Marc Bürki, chief executive of Swissquote, commented: “Our bitcoin trading offer and certificate have been a big success and exceeded our expectations. We are expanding our offer to help investors diversify in crypto-currencies, just like they do in traditional securities. By offering them on our platform, investing in crypto-currencies becomes simpler, safer and accessible to all.” 

In August this year, Falcon Private Bank made a deeper foray into the burgeoning crypto-currency space, as it announced it would add ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash to its books. 

Earlier this week, bitcoin’s price rose to an all-time high of $19,783.06, according to CoinDesk, as investors braced for the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures. Last week, CME’s smaller rival group Cboe rolled out its own bitcoin futures on one of its exchanges, which spurred a price hike.

Year-to-date, bitcoin is up more than 9,000 per cent. 

Still, it seems that bitcoin will have to share the limelight with some of its rivals.

Ethereum, the second-largest crypto-currency by market capitalisation, is up more than 4,000 per cent since January, and last week reached a record-high of $752. 

Last week, litecoin, another rival, saw its value double within a day and is now trading at above $300. 

Ripple, the fourth-largest crypto-currency, has seen its value rocket from under $0.01 to $0.79 per coin in under a year, logging gains of more than 4,300 per cent. 

In total, there are more than 1,000 crypto-currencies with a market cap of over $589 billion, eclipsing the value of the world’s biggest banks and companies.