The digital currency bitcoin is currently still near all-time highs, but bullish calls remain for the asset.One investor thinks it could almost double to $4,000 by the end of 2017.Bitcoin hit an all-time high in late May, reaching to $2791.70 according to CoinDesk data, recording a 180 percent rally year-to-date.There was a subsequent price correction towards $2,100 but bitcoin currently stands around $2,468.56.The market cap for bitcoin has swelled to more than $40 billion.The bitcoin rally has been fueled by several causes: Japan passed a law in April eviewing a decision regarding approval for a bitcoin-based exchange traded fund Other countries, including Russia, are looking at how to regulate bitcoin Daniel Masters is the chairman of XBT Provider, which offers a "bitcoin tracker" that can be traded and exchanged on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm.He expects Bitcoin to reach $4,000 by the end of the year."Bitcoin is emerging as the transactional layer of the internet, as programmable money and as digital gold.

That's the big picture," he told CNBC's Squawk Box on Thursday.Masters says the trend for high volatility in bitcoin is being diminished due to bitcoin's proliferation, with more products and exchanges set up, as well as the development of a short side of the market.He thinks the next catalysts for bitcoin price growth will come from greater volume."What we've seen at XBT Provider is an increase in coverage and an increase in penetration into both the retail and institutional market.We're now being covered on Nasdaq OMX by 27 different broker dealers, and that is a stark increase from what we saw a year or two ago," he said.Garrick Hileman, economic historian at the University of Cambridge and London School of Economics, agreed that recent developments are increasing demand for bitcoin."Macroeconomic and positive regulatory developments are fueling significant demand in many markets, particularly South Korea and Japan, as well as India, Venezuela, Nigeria, and elsewhere," he told CNBC via email on Thursday.

However, he raised concerns about the potential split that faces the digital currency.The bitcoin community is debating how to fix a scaling issue, as the number of bitcoin transactions that can happen at any one time is limited and causes a backlog of transactions.bitcoin chuck norrisOne solution is to increase the size of the blocks on the blockchain in order to process more transactions, but this would involve splitting the blockchain, causing a fork and creating two major blockchains, which would effectively create two different coins.bitcoin sec regulation"A successful resolution of the bitcoin scaling debate would likely propel the currency to new highs.ethereum ether tokenHowever, if the bitcoin ecosystem divides then the price could plummet," Hileman warned.is bitcoin legal in uae

"The frothiness we are observing in the initial coin offering market right now may trigger a regulatory backlash, which could negatively impact bitcoin's price," he added.bitcoin miner software comparisonThe first Euro-denominated bitcoin Exchange Traded Note (ETN), Bitcoin Tracker EUR, will debut on Nasdaq Nordic on Monday, Oct 5.bitcoin miner software comparisonThis will be the second ETN issued by XBT Provider, who issued the first ever bitcoin ETN, called Bitcoin Tracker One, on the Nasdaq Nordic earlier this year, on May 18.- Alexander Marsh, XBT Provider CEO ETNs are unsecured debt obligations from an issuer, listed and trade on exchanges.Bitcoin ETNs are an easy way for retail and institutional investors to gain exposure to the digital currency, without buying the underlying asset.The first ETN was developed in 2006 by Barclays Bank, the leader in ETN issues, so that retail investors could invest in hard-to-access assets, particularly in the commodity and currency areas.

With the launch of Bitcoin Tracker EUR, Nasdaq Nordic has a second investment instrument whose underlying asset is bitcoin, and both are issued by the same issuer, XBT Provider.The first, Bitcoin Tracker One, was launched on Nasdaq Stockholm, but is now available for retail and institutional clients, in 179 countries, for anyone with an Interactive Brokers account.Bitcoin Tracker One is listed in Swedish Krona (SEK) and has exposure to bitcoin and the US Dollar, which is the underlying currency of the instrument.The company chose the USD as the underlying currency because “the BTC/USD market is the most liquid bitcoin market widely available for trading.” As of the day of publication, Bitcoin Tracker One is among the most traded ETNs in the foreign exchange category on the Nasdaq Nordic, out of 51 available ETNs in total.“Bitcoin Tracker EUR will give the investors all the benefits of Bitcoin Tracker One, and also offer a currency they are used to invest in."- Staffan Helgesson, General Partner at Creandum and Board Member of XBT Provider Since ETNs are debt securities, guaranteed by the issuer, investors need to asses more than just the risks surrounding the underlying asset.

If the issuer goes bankrupt, the investors may not receive any capital.XBT Provider is a Stockholm-based company established in January 2015, with the sole purpose of issuing securities.The company is part of the KnC Group AB, which is particularly well known for its subsidiary, KNC Miner.For investors who do not want to rely on the issuer's creditworthiness, and prefer investing in equity securities rather than debt securities, there are also bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETF).A bitcoin ETF is an investment fund that holds bitcoin, and divides ownership into shares.With the increased popularity of bitcoin, more investment vehicles are becoming available to investors.Earlier this month, ARK Investment Management announced the first ETF on a major US exchange, through investment in Grayscale's Bitcoin Investment Trust's shares.No matter the types of bitcoin investments, the price of bitcoin is most important.For the two bitcoin ETNs, the higher the price of bitcoin, the higher the ETN payouts and the more investors.

The company cited that bitcoin holders do not trade bitcoin often, instead they hold onto them for “speculation, saving or for other long-term purposes.” According to the prospectus, only 4 percent of all bitcoins were traded within one week by their holders, compared to 24 percent over three months, more than half over six months and 38 percent in one year.Other than miners and some major participants who regularly cash out bitcoin to cover overheads, only a small proportion of all Bitcoins seems to be used for transactions.Since bitcoin’s price reflects the expectation of bitcoin usage in transactions, this low usage could affect the price of bitcoin and therefore its ETN performance.The company hopes that the introduction of Bitcoin Tracker EUR will entice more investors to actively invest in bitcoin.Marsh adds that with Bitcoin Tracker EUR "we hope to further eliminate the boundaries that earlier prevented individuals and companies from being able to actively invest in what we believe will be the future of money"