Bitcoin Price Soars to $500, Then Falls to $370 In Wildest Trade This Year

10% in 5 hours is now officially child's play. It is so November 2; by now we've moved on to the next stage of Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term's third straight November craze.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) first soared by 13.5% within 5 hours to $502 on Bitstamp, after finding a plateau near $440. It has now plummeted by as much as 27% to $368- the bulk of the loss transpiring within 2 hours; it then retraced to $390 within seconds.

After breaking through $400 yesterday, bitcoin plummeted to $372, but recovered its losses and proceeded to a new high of $440.

At today's peak, bitcoin was trading at its highest level in more than 15 months. You have to go back to 2014's August sell-off to find the last time bitcoin traded above $500. Year-to-date, it had added as much as 57% after trading in negative territory for the first 10 months.

At its peak, bitcoin had gained over 150% since falling below $200 in this year's August sell-off. The bulk of this figure comes from the past week of trade.

Interestingly, the increasing discount of bitcoin on BTC-e relative to peers has now vanished, at least momentarily. To take an example, bitcoin on Bitstamp just shed 2% to $392 in a matter of seconds, falling behind its price on BTC-e by roughly that much.

Such have been bitcoin prices during the past 12 hours: a dizzying light show of flashing numbers, changing at a rapid-fire pace more fitting for an arcade.

This year's November craze by now outpaces that of 2014, and in terms of the magnitude of change per unit time, outpaces even that of November 2013 during which bitcoin soared to over $1,100. Bitcoin is technically on pace to be worth thousands by the end of this month, as hard as it is to imagine.

Volumes have ticked up to roughly 10,000 BTC per hour on Bitstamp.

Shares of Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) hit their highest level ($57.00) since shortly after public launch. Their implied bitcoin-based value was $594, an 18% premium to bitcoin prices.