Bitcoin is arguably the most prominent invention in fintech of the late 2000s. Originally designed as a digital currency for peer to peer exchange, it has grown into an investment tool due to its large gains and losses and a high degree of volatility. Although there are thousands of digital currencies Bitcoin controls the cryptocurrency market with its high unit price and a dominant market share. This paper looks at Bitcoin as an alternative class of investment and shows that it has remarkably low correlation with stocks, bonds, oil, gold, private equity, real estate and top traded hard currency pairs. Extensive tests prove that Bitcoin has a nonnormal distribution of returns which is a peculiar property of alternative investments. Returns are predictable to a certain extent, but only through using lagged variable of the same. Although dark side of the coin is not ignorable, but an increased interest from institutional as well as individual investing has given a considerable exposure to this new line of investing and a lucrative risk-adjusted return offered by it can be a fine addition to a portfolio.

M-ECON