Unlike the money you save in a bank insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), “If a virtual currency company fails – and many have – the government will not cover the loss,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned in a 2014 notice about cryptocurrency (its most recent guidance).
"Nevertheless, with central banks likely to begin raising rates and tapering its stimulus package, investors are looking for a store of value that is perhaps less susceptible to these changes.

By late 2010, the first of what would eventually be dozens of similar cryptocurrencies — including popular alternatives like Litecoin — began appearing. The first public Bitcoin exchanges appeared around this time as well.
However, while there are some organisations that accept it as currency, others shy away due to Bitcoin’s dramatic price swings. Driven largely by speculation, the price per Bitcoin rose sharply from $1,151 in January 2017, to an all-time high of $19,783 in December the same year.* It then dropped to below $7,000 by February 2018 and rallied again to around $11,000 over a matter of days, before plunging once more to trade below $4,000. Subsequently, one of the key characteristics of Bitcoin that traders should understand is its potential for extreme volatility.