In the last year or so, bitcoins have increasingly made their way into the headlines. While this cryptocurrency was a favorite among tech fans during its infancy, it has increasingly begun to make its way into more mainstream markets.

Now, many people believe that bitcoin has the potential become an alternative to government-issued currency. There is also now a rapidly growing specialized stock exchange for the virtual currency, presenting the opportunity to earn money trading. If you have been sitting on the sidelines and wondering whether you should get involved with bitcoin, you may find that now is the best time to make a purchase.

Exchange rates are still favorable

People choose to buy bitcoin for a number of different reasons, including as an investment. While there has been some fluctuation in the value of bitcoin, many people have earned quite a lot of money by purchasing bitcoins and then selling their investments at the right time. Due to a recent decline in value, many first-time investors have been scared off from investing. The important point to note here is that fluctuations in the value of bitcoin have actually proven to be a fairly regular event and that is actually a good thing. Generally, whenever bitcoin recovers, the value tends to increase even higher. While it could certainly be termed as volatile, it can also be extremely profitable.

For instance, consider the price of bitcoin over the course of the last couple of months. Following a decline to a post-bubble low of around $177 near the end of January 2015, the price of bitcoin has continued to climb higher. Now, the price is nearing $300 and has actually come close to the value it had achieved at the beginning of the year. For the past two months, bitcoin has experienced an uptrend that indicates a building recovery. This is actually the steadiest and longest uptrend maintained by bitcoin since the 2013 bubble, according to NASDAQ. ¹ Additionally, it is important to consider that there is a limited supply of bitcoins. As a result, the value of bitcoin is anticipated to continue increasing well into the future.

More merchants are accepting bitcoin

Critics of bitcoin have been quick to point out that it is only speculation driving bitcoin, but that is hardly the case. If it were, bitcoin would have collapsed long ago. In fact, it is the increasingly widespread adoption of bitcoin that continues to drive growth. It is now possible for practically anything online and pay for it using bitcoin. Once Overstock.com began accepting bitcoin, a number of other online retailers followed suit. In addition, bitcoin is also developing an offline presence, with the implementation of Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs).

First U.S. Bitcoin Exchange opens

Earlier this year, the first U.S.-based Bitcoin Exchange opened. The importance of this should not be taken lightly. In the past, bitcoin investors had no choice but to use foreign exchanges for their trades. Due to questions regarding security and financial stability, many would-be investors shied away from investing in bitcoin. With the funding of $106 million from such heavyweight investors as the New York Stock Exchange, Coinbase has now launched the first U.S.-based bitcoin exchange, with multiple layers of security in place to ensure that users' bitcoins are completely safe.

Despite the tremendous amount of growth that bitcoin has experienced since it was first released just six years ago, bitcoin is still in the entry stage. Right now, everything indicates that bitcoin will continue to experience not only growing increases in value but also more widespread implementation. Those who have already invested in bitcoin are in an excellent position to take advantage of tremendous returns on the investments in the future.

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1) NASDAQ. Bitcoin Price Prediction: Why It's Only Now Finding the True Value http://www.nasdaq.com/article/bitcoin-price-prediction-why-its-only-now-finding-the-true-value-cm453817