Bitcoin has continued its roller coaster ride over the weekend after the price of the cryptocurrency broke through $40,000 for the first time on Friday.

Through Friday, bitcoin peaked at $41,528.79, then traded in a range between $39,000 and $41,000 through this morning. Then bitcoin started to head south, dropping as low as $36.985.58 at 4 p.m. EST before recovering somewhat, to $38.329.59, as of 6:49 p.m.

Bitcoin’s precipitous rise to new record highs began in December as it broke through $20,000 for the first time Dec. 16. The records kept on coming, with bitcoin breaking through $24,000 Dec. 20, $28,000 Dec. 27 then $34,000 Jan. 3.

The reason behind bitcoin’s increasing popularity has been attributed to institutional investors as the cryptocurrency is being seen as a legitimate investment option. For some, bitcoin is becoming an alternative investment to gold or, as DW recently put it, bitcoin could become “millennial gold.”

That there is comparison to gold is relevant as bitcoin is also increasingly being seen as a hedge against inflation. As the U.S. Federal Reserve and various central banks print money for stimulus packages, investors fear that the value of the traditional currency holdings may fall in the months ahead.

The idea of bitcoin being an inflation hedge has some support in high places. Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in December that although he doesn’t believe bitcoin is an alternative to gold, he does think it’s akin to copper and a “retail inflation hedge.”

JP Morgan Chase & Co., which this week said that it believed bitcoin will grow to $146,000, also noted that the cryptocurrency was becoming an option for investors looking to hedge against inflation and were turned off by the depreciating dollar.

Just how high bitcoin will go is, as it always has been, open to speculation.

Max Keiser, host of the Keiser Report and co-founder of Heisenberg Capital, is currently predicting that bitcoin will finish 2021 at a price of $220,000.

Others, however, at not quite as positive in their predictions. Fundstrat Managing Partner Tom Lee, who previously predicted bitcoin would hit $40,000, is warning that the price of bitcoin could collapse by up to 50%.

“It’s a hyper volatile asset,” Lee told Yahoo Finance.“ Our roadmap for risk assets this year is that stocks would be pretty explosive out of the gate and peak sometime either in late January but as late as April around S&P 4,000 before a big drawdown happens. If the S&P falls 10%, bitcoin is going to have a huge drawdown it could be 40% to 50%.”

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