Cashing on the previous year’s upward momentum, Bitcoin has already managed to hit $1000 mark, one day into the new year. As the repercussions of the events of 2016 will be felt this year and in the future, it is not incorrect to predict bitcoin’s continued importance.
The events like Brexit, Chinese Yuan devaluation etc were landmark because they were symptomatic of the general malaise in the world economy. The implosion of the world economy continues in the aftermath of 2016 and so does the upward climb of Bitcoin.
In the last week of 2016, the continued efforts on the Chinese and Indian investors’ part to evade capital controls and circumnavigate cash restrictions, pushed Bitcoin to a life time high vs. Euro and finally to $1000 in 2017.
The surge in Chinese investors buying bitcoins is due to the fact that the Yuan has lost its value, while the investors in India are buying bitcoins thanks to the government’s decision to demonetize some currency denominations.
The demand for Bitcoin also follows an increased awareness about the benefits of the currency and a drive to move it into the mainstream. And both the usage and acceptance for bitcoin are growing. According to Coinbase, some 45,000 businesses including Dell, PayPal and Time, now accept bitcoins as payment.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, in a recent Twitter QA, was surprised by the demand for bitcoin payment integration.
Finally, Vinny Lingham, co-founder and CEO of Civic.com, in his much anticipated blog post titled “Bitcoin 2017: A Currency Devaluation Hedge for Emerging Markets”, predicted Bitcoin price to reach $3,000 in 2017.
He maintains a positive outlook on the price, volatility, value and development of Bitcoin this year. Bitcoin will keep a relatively low volatility rate and will sustain a consistent growth rate.
According to him, some countries may even to try to ban Bitcoin trading or at least restrict Bitcoin transactions, pushing the demand for Bitcoin in black markets, which could act as a positive factor.
He concludes the section with, “I do expect a 2 -3x price growth overall in 2017 for the USD/BTC pair. This may result in Bitcoin prices in other currencies being up 4 -7x, but I think it’s fair to say that USD/BTC pairing is what we should use as the benchmark.”
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