"Forecasting is a thankless job, but the projection I made in the summer that bitcoin would cost $10,000 by the New Year has already come true. I think, it will continue its growth to pass $14,000 by year-end and will reach $20,000 in 2018," said Pripachkin.

The expert said the surge of bitcoin is connected to the huge amount of cash that has recently entered the crypto market. At least $10 billion poured in just the previous week. Up to 30,000 digital wallets are being created globally every day, according to Pripachkin.

"People believed that digital currency is not a bubble, that it is a feature of the new digital economy and is basically a new cash equivalent. That's why interest toward cryptocurrencies is linked to two factors: they can be used as a way of saving and as a way of speculating in a good way," Pripachkin said.

The analyst compared the cryptocurrencies with the existing systems of bonuses and discounts various corporations give to their most loyal clientele. Loyalty points can be spent the same way as rubles or dollars, but they are virtual, and this makes them similar to digital currencies.