Buy to hold

When people buy and sell in a dizzied cycle, they miss the bigger picture of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology on which it's traded, said financial advisor Ric Edelman, founder and executive chairman of Edelman Financial Services.

"There's no question that digital currencies are the future," Edelman said. "You should be prepared to own it for years."

He said his decision to hold bitcoin for more than a decade has paid off.

"I've watched it go from $1 to $1,000, back to $200 and then to $16,000," he said.

Although he acknowledged that such ups and downs are intolerable for some people.

"If owning this asset is causing you to stare at the ceiling at night, you shouldn't own it," he said. "There's more to life than money."