These five finance experts are still excited about cryptocurrency

Bitcoin had has a rough year. The cryptocurrency plummeted from $20,000 at the end of 2017 to under $6,000 by June. But the bitcoin faithful remains excited, and some experts see the digital currency surpassing its record highs from the end of 2017.Chamath Palihapitiya, the CEO and founder of Social Capital, predicted on CNBC’s "Fast Money" in December that bitcoin would be worth $1,000,000 in 20 years. In May 2018, he said bitcoin is a valuable form of insurance since it is “fundamentally not correlated” to the S&P 500 index. In June, the tech investor tweeted that he believed bitcoin would surpass the price of gold:

 Tom Lee, of Fundstrat Global Advisors, told CNBC in June that bitcoin is a “great store of value.” In a different June interview, Lee predicted bitcoin would be be worth more than $20,000 by the end of 2018.Brian Kelly, founder of BKCM LLC, said that he likes both bitcoin and ethereum when it comes to cryptocurrencies. However, he favors ethereum over bitcoin.Ran Neu-Ner, founder and CEO of OnChain Capital, warned that bitcoin is just in the early stages of its existence. He told CNBC in February, “We haven’t even got to the start line of cryptocurrencies.” In a June interview, Neu-Ner compared bitcoin to “digital gold.”Bitcoin bears remain unconvinced, however. Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger, for example, called bitcoin “worthless artificial gold” in an interview with CNBC in May.