A gravity-defying bitcoin rally to over Rs 10 lakh a piece, interspersed with 'stories' of people making crores from thousands, has left the regulators flummoxed amid fears that a complete lack of regulatory regime for such cryptocurrencies may give rise to 'e-ponzi' scams.

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The coming year will be full of uncertainties; here is some expert advice on how you can make the best of it.

Regulators don't seem to be in a hurry to regulate Bitcoins and cryptocurrency and have taken a wait and watch stand until issues of traceability and backing for underlying asset isn't in place. Only fear is they shouldn't lose oversight of the devil.

Every day Bitcoin is setting up a new benchmark, luring you to become a part of this unpredictable financial cycle. At the same time, some financial institutions have debunked the \"bitcoin mania\", calling it a \"fraud\". Should you still invest?

This is not the first time when bitcoin plummeted in a short span of time. In the last week of November, Bitcoin had lost more than a fifth of its value in just 24 hours. It first touched then an all-time high of $11,395 and quickly slid to $9,000.

Experts cite the launching of bitcoin futures by the CBOE, one of the world's biggest derivatives exchanges, a major reason behind the sharp jump.

While the Reserve Bank of India has cautioned against investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the virtual currencies have risen in value leaps and bounds, attracting investors. Here's a look at how Bitcoin, the oldest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world, fares in the real world, and is it the right time to invest in it.

In its first warning issued on December 24, 2013, the RBI said that the creation, trading or usage of Virtual currencies or VCs as a medium for payment are not authorised by any central bank or monetary authority.

The statement was issued after the cryptocurrency, which trades 24 hours a day and seven days a week, climbed as high as $11,799.99 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange on Sunday.

The cryptocurrency fell as much as 8 percent on Thursday on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange to hit $9,000 exactly, marking a fall of well over $2,000 in under 24 hours.

After soaring more than 1,000 percent since the start of the year, bitcoin rose as much as 15 percent on Wednesday, but by mid-afternoon in New York, the virtual currency was trading at $9,500, down 3.7 percent on the day on Luxembourg-based Bitstamp.

Bitcoin blasted past $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row on Wednesday after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst in spectacular fashion.

India's telecoms regulator has made long-awaited recommendations to ensure an open internet and prevent any discrimination in internet access in the country.

Bitcoin's $167 billion market capitalization reportedly already exceeds that of about 95% of the S&P 500 Index members. In some emerging markets, in fact, Bitcoin has hit well over the $10,000 mark.

Bitcoin which is the first cryptocurrency to hit the market was launched in the year 2009. It was invented by a person or group using the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, after which the US Treasury has categorized it as a decentralized cryptocurrency.

The value of cryptocurrency Bitcoin rose to an all-time high of over $9,671.84 on Sunday. The digital currency surged past $9600 level for the first time, amid speculations from analysts that it could cross $10,000 level well before 2018 kicks in.

With as many as over 1200 cryptocurrencies with a market cap of $200 billion present across the world, there remains no dearth of virtual money to choose from. Watch Senior Associate Editor Teena Jain Kaushal as she talks about the other popular cryptocurrencies, apart from Bitcoin, for investors to look into.

While Bitcoin has posted returns as high as 800 per cent over the last year, investors need to understand the risk this cryptocurrency carries with it. The extreme levels of volatility associated with the oldest and probably the most popular cryptocurrency alone makes it a difficult choice for investors.

Bitcoin, the oldest and the largest circulated currency, was launched after the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008. To bail out their financial institutions, governments of developed countries printed their currencies in billions.