This man is giving out free Bitcoins and Twitterati can't hold the excitement

New Delhi: Bitcoin, which has no central bank backing and no legal exchange rate, briefly hit a new record of $17,000 today.

The spectacular rise of the cryptocurrency has stolen some thunder from gold bulls, providing an asset that is also seen as a hedge against inflation and government interference.

At the same time as some proponents say that the cryptocurrency is in a bubble about to burst, a twitter user is conducting a giveaway of the same.

A twitter user under the account name, @TravWeav, is has claimed that he owns 1,500 bitcoins and wants to give it to people on the occasion of Christmas. However, there's a catch – just retweet it.

Bought 1,500 bitcoin in 2011 for $2.87 each. I will pick 5 random people who retweet this and give one to each of you. Merry Christmas. #Bitcoin — Travis Weaver (@TravWeav) December 7, 2017

Weaver's tweet has since been retweeted over 1,48,000 times while the users at the micro blogging site can't seem to hold their excitement.

*does the math* pic.twitter.com/C81WMsnlsf — Chanukah Jerry (@BostonJerry) December 7, 2017

Sweet baby Jesus. Pick me. Choose me. pic.twitter.com/foyyuPpD0l — SophisticatedBeauty (@CookieW_THEfro) December 7, 2017

dance with me and i will give a bitcoin

or a bitchslap!! pic.twitter.com/AlJiSBpeEX — yousef (@yousef28629008) December 7, 2017

Lol Ayyye thanks man. pic.twitter.com/rEc5YVsy7T

— NMR (@NewMusicRevo) December 7, 2017

pic.twitter.com/2PUKw9MMP8 — Christian (@CHusarski97) December 7, 2017

Created in 2009 as a bit of encrypted software, the digital money been used to buy everything from beer to pizza, and is increasingly accepted by major companies such as booking website Expedia.

It has soared more than 50 percent in just a week and is up from a 2017 low of $752 in mid-January.