“To say it’s a meteoric rise isn’t too hyperbolic. Bitcoin hit $15,000 early Thursday, just 12 hours after it passed the $14,000 mark, reports Business Insider, which puts the digital currency’s 36-hour increase at more than $3,000. To illustrate the massive growth another way: 10 days ago, the cryptocurrency market as a whole was worth $300 billion; now it’s above $400 billion, per CoinMarketCap.com. The quote of the day on the subject comes from Royal Bank of Scotland chair Sir Howard Davies, who called the whole situation “irrational exuberance” in comments to Bloomberg and warned, “All the authorities can do is put up the sign from Dante’s Inferno: ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here.’ ” […] –Kate Seamons, Newser, December 7, 2017