Mubasher: Despite the significant amount of interest the bitcoin has garnered lately, it has not achieved the level of stability a normal currency possesses, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian as saying.

El-Erian believes that the cryptocurrency is more of a commodity than a currency.

"A currency serves as a predictable store of value, and serves as a medium of exchange that's pretty stable in value as well — bitcoins aren't that there yet, they're still trying to find stability so it's more of a commodity than it's a currency," he told CNBC during the 2017 Barclays Asia Forum held in Singapore.

In October, Allianz’s El-Erian said that the value of the bitcoin should be half of the $4,000 it was fetching. However, since then, and until Thursday, the cryptocurrency has surged past the $7,000 mark.

Cryptocurrencies have been receiving much attention of late, both from governments and large organisations.

Recently, media reported that Chinese regulators were considering lifting the ban off the digital currency.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had called the bitcoin a “fraud”, whereas billionaire Peter Thiel said that people were "underestimating" the cryptocurrency and stated that he viewed it as having "great potential."

“Bitcoin recently received a nod from CME, the world's largest futures exchange, which announced this week that it plans to launch bitcoin futures by the end of this year,” CNBC reported.

Despite that, El-Erian remained skeptical, noting that bitcoin buyers “may be assuming that it will be widely adopted by institutions and central banks, but they could be wrong,” CNBC said.

"My major concern over the long term is: Is the assumption in the pricing about adoption consistent with reality? That's the issue that investors should ask if they're holding bitcoins for a couple of months," El-Erian concluded said.