Compared to most investments, bitcoin "is a highly volatile, highly risky investment," James Ledbetter, editor of fintech newsletter FIN and CNBC contributor, tells CNBC Make It. "If you look historically at the price of bitcoin, there have been a number of occasions where it's really spiked and then comes crashing down really quickly."
(For example, after rallying to nearly $20,000 in 2017, bitcoin's price collapsed and lost a third of its value in a single day, and in 2018, it dropped to as low as $3,122, wiping out billions of dollars from the total cryptocurrency market value.)
While that can mean big returns, it can also mean big losses.
That's why some, like investor Mark Cuban, liken bitcoin to gambling and advise investing only as much money as you can afford to lose.
"You have to at least be mentally prepared and financially prepared that [a crash] could happen again. It could happen tomorrow," Ledbetter says.
Of course, despite its high selling price, "you can go and buy as little as even $5 of bitcoin because there is the ability to buy fractional shares called satoshis," points out Anthony Pompliano, co-founder of cryptocurrency hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital Assets and a bitcoin investor.
"Just start very small, do research, learn about it," Pompliano says.
(If you do decide to invest, Pompliano supports holding bitcoin long-term. By design, there is a limited supply of bitcoin, so bitcoin bull Pompliano believes as demand increases, the price will as well.)