The price of bitcoin has continued to rise as part of a slow bull run that started a week ago. But it’s anybody’s guess where it will go next, as so-called financial experts are predicting everything from another massive crash to huge price hikes.

After dropping briefly below $6,000, bitcoin started turning up Feb. 5 and rose to as high as of $7,494.22 by Feb. 7. After hitting $9,058.80 on Saturday, the price flatlined somewhat, trading in an $8,000-to-$9,000 band, setting at $8,679.62 as of 10 p.m. EST.

Why the positive turn? That remains somewhat of a mystery, with one headline reading “Bitcoin Just Rebounded 50% and No One Knows Why.” Still, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to divine one reason: No particularly bad headlines lately. That has bolstered confidence, and hence buyers returning to the market are driving the price up.

Where bitcoin is heading going forward, though, is a proper mystery. Among those predicting doom and gloom is Bloomberg Intelligence commodity strategist Mike McGlone. Using Amazon.com Inc. and the Nasdaq’s spectacular rise and retreat at the turn of the millennium as a proxy, he predicted that bitcoin could plunge 90 percent, to $900. JPMorgan analysts believe that bitcoin will bottom out at $4,605, but they noted that they believe cryptocurrencies are “unlikely to disappear.”

Pantera Capital founder Dan Morehead took an interesting middle line, saying that bitcoin has had an average bear market of 71 days and as of Friday it was day 52. Hence, he predicted, the price of bitcoin should start increasing in about two weeks.

Those with a decidedly more positive outlook for bitcoin’s price include cryptocurrency portfolio manager Jeet Singh, who was quoted Sunday as saying he believed that bitcoin will reach $50,000 by the end of the year. Ryan Derks of Ryan’s Hodl Fund told The Express Monday that he believed bitcoin would grow to $100,000 as people in failing countries look for a place to park their funds in nonfiat currency.

Then there’s infamous security researcher and now cryptocharacter John McAfee. He’s still on record as saying he will eat his manhood on national television if bitcoin doesn’t hit $1 million in 2020.

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