The unprecedented rise in cryptocurrency value is shaking up the financial market, especially in the United States. Cryptocurrencies are known for their fluctuations in price, making investments risky- you either lose or make extremely high returns. However, who would have thought that Bitcoin would rise over 360% from the beginning of 2017? New reports have it that bitcoin is currently valued over $7000. This is the first time ever that a cryptocurrency will experience such a spike in value.
This is a historic moment for the investors. What’s more of the success story is decentralised system and this could be the sole reason it fluctuates without a baseline. When compared to the dollar, the value of bitcoin has spiked the financial market uneasiness.
Although it’s unlikely that cryptocurrencies will completely take over physical currencies, coinbase, a crypto online business, reports that the forum now signs up between 35000 to 50000 new users daily. Moreover, the total value of bitcoin in distribution is currently $110b.
At the time bitcoin was officially launched into the market, its value was lesser than $100. At the time of its popularity in August 2016, it was far lesser than $1000. At the beginning of 2017, it fluctuated between $900 and $1200; this was as recent as in January. In August, however, the crypto value took everyone by surprise when it rose to $3,451 after ‘a spin-off –bitcoin cash- failed to prove as disruptive as had been feared’. It marked a record in September when it crossed the $5,000 threshold.
According to Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, the numerous technology platforms for cryptocurrency was s stepping ground for Bitcoin and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the price were to go higher than its current value. He also said that the recent occurrence has been attracting people to investing in bitcoin because a ‘fork’ happened in August where investors received for free, an equivalent of new Bitcoin Cash coins.
He said further, that another ‘fork’ is scheduled to happen on November 18. Due to the record of a prior event, ‘rising geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula are also driving interest in Bitcoin in the surrounding countries because people are wary of investing in the yen or the dollar’.
Nevertheless, the US government regulators may crack down on cryptocurrencies, which could ultimately drag prices down.
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