Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at top American university Yale, said the cryptocurrency has seen unprecedented price rises but investors should not pin all hopes on it.

Mr Roach, described by Yale as one of Wall Street's most influential economists, told CNBC: "This is a toxic concept for investors. 

"This is a dangerous speculative bubble by any shadow or stretch of the imagination.

"I've never seen a chart of a security where the price really has a vertical pattern to it. And bitcoin is the most vertical of any pattern I've ever seen in my career."

The cryptocurrency currently is nearly reaching the $12,000 mark – with a price rise of more than 1,000 per cent in this year alone.

Its price surge is mainly due to the accelerated rise in interest from retail and institutional investors who see Bitcoin as the possible future means of exchange. 

However, many investors admit to not understanding the technicalities of the blockchain technology that drives the cryptocurrency. Instead, they simply hope that investing in Bitcoin will pay off due to its continuous rise. 

Such exchanges as Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) are the latest to legitimise the currency's investment credentials after announcing their plan to introduce futures contract to their exchanges. 

Mr Roach believes the move by these exchanges is far from safe saying it is "somewhat dangerous" for investors as he describes Bitcoin to have a "lack of intrinsic underlying economic value”. 

Mr Roach, who has spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley, added: "Like all bubbles, they burst."

But Ed Tilly, CEO of CBOE told coindesk: "Given the unprecedented interest in Bitcoin, it's vital we provide clients the trading tools to help them express their views and hedge their exposure. We are committed to encouraging fairness and liquidity in the bitcoin market."