Having bounced back from China’s exchange closures and Dimon’s damning, Bitcoin just broke above its pre-China ICO ban highs and traded above $5000 for the first time in history (even as Russia decided to block local access). There was no looking back as the cryptocurrency is now trading $5240 – a new record high.

As Coindesk notes, prices had dropped to a low of $2,980 in mid-September after China banned token sales and local cryptocurrency exchanges. However, in the subsequent days, BTC quickly regained poised, reportedly due to a pick-up in trading volumes in Japan, South Korea and other markets. The rotation of money out of the ether and Ethereum-based coins and into bitcoin also helped the cryptocurrency scale new heights.

Increased institutional interest seems to have played a role in boosting bitcoin prices. For example, a ‘bitcoin desk’ at Goldman Sachs would certainly be a game changer. News had hit the wires earlier this month that Goldman Sachs is considering a brand new operation which would be dedicated to bitcoin trading.

Still, while skeptics continue to call bitcoin rally a bubble, the price action analysis indicates no serious trouble ahead for the cryptocurrency.

Resistance is seen at $5,378.56 – 161.8 percent Fibonacci extension of the move from the Sep 15 low – Sep 18 high – Sep 23 low.

It appears Novogratz may be right after all… while bitcoin is a bubble, the mania is justified because it is a technological advancement that promises to fundamentally alter our lives.

“I can hear the herd coming” Novogratz said.

And bubble or not, Novogratz concluded eloquently on the extreme nature of cryptocurrencies’ potential…

“Remember, bubbles happen around things that fundamentally change the way we live,” he said.

“The railroad bubble. Railroads really fundamentally changed the way we lived. The internet bubble changed the way we live. When I look forward five, 10 years, the possibilities really get your animal spirits going.”