Bitcoin surpassed $11,000 in a matter of hours after hitting the $10,000 milestone, taking this year’s price surge to almost 12-fold as buyers shrugged off increased warnings that the largest digital currency is an asset bubble.

The euphoria is bringing to the mainstream what was once considered the provenance of computer developers, futurists and libertarians seeking to create an alternative to central bank-controlled monetary systems. While the actual volume of transactions conducted in cryptocurrencies is relatively small, the optimism surrounding the technology continues to drive it to new highs.

Some on Wall Street are embracing the run, with more than 100 hedge funds now dedicated to digital currencies. Others are issuing dire warnings, with Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz saying it ought to be outlawed as it “doesn’t serve any socially useful function.”

Bitcoin has risen by about 75 percent since October alone, after developers agreed to cancel a technology update that threatened to split the digital currency. Even as analysts disagree on whether the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is truly an asset, its $178 billion value already exceeds that of about 95 percent of the S&P 500 Index members and is driving the debate about where financial technology is headed.