The BBC’s technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones has said Bitcoin price is a bubble and said the same phenomenon could happen with tulips.

In a Twitter exchange begun by Guardian journalist Alex Hearn, who posted a photograph of an eToro advertisement on the London Underground, Cellan-Jones came out critical of Bitcoin’s current price rally above $4,200.

“Yes, tulip bulbs are now selling for $4,000 and we were told that was a bubble when they hit $100,” he wrote in an apparent sarcastic response.

In July, the Elliott Wave Theorist also compared the rise of Bitcoin to the Tulip Mania of the 17th century which would “lead to collapse.”

The reporter was joined by the London Stock Exchange associate James Clark, who said those purchasing Bitcoin should not “pretend it’s investing.”

“The thing that gets me is the coin nerds who attempt to explain that this somehow isn't a speculative bubble,” he added.

Retaliating against both Clark and Cellan-Jones was digital marketing agency ApplinSkinner director Mark Cook, who pointed out previous Bitcoin price thresholds - $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 - had all earnt Bitcoin ‘bubble’ accusations in the past.

“It's just an objectively better way to transfer and store wealth than fiat,” he wrote in response to a further comment from Clark who opined new investors “just want to get rich quick.”

Bitcoin’s rise to new all-time highs continues to make international headlines Monday as a combination of factors appears to be generating a positive feedback loop of interest from previously wary potential adopters.

Dispelling further criticism meanwhile, McAfee founder John McAfee argued that the cost of mining one Bitcoin should make it vastly superior a store of value than a single US dollar.