The famous Gandhi quote "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" is becoming true for Bitcoin as the weeks go by.
There has been a very obvious increase in overall value for Bitcoin and major alternative currencies. Just two months ago, the Bitcoin market capitalization was about $16 bln, at the time of writing, the market cap has risen to over $35 bln. This steady growth and the rise in Bitcoin price, especially as is observed since the beginning of the year has raised a storm of curiosity among the Internet.
Altcoins are driven by speculation
With regards to altcoins and ICO’s, CEO BnkToTheFuture.com, Simon Dixon believes that we are in a bubble, so all the demand is speculation driven by traders trying to gain more Bitcoin.
Dixon says:
“I expect a major correction when their value returns to their actual utility. Bitcoin, however, is fulfilling its user case as a global store of value more and more and this user case has been accelerated by political uncertainty and monetary policies like waging wars on cash as well as institutions and hedge funds joining the party.”
According to Dixon, Bitcoin is gaining more and more utility each day. The community is in a phase of accumulation before a scaling solution is reached where few holders will be willing to sell.
The Bitcoin character
Kumar Gaurav, Founder of Auxesis Group & Cashaa believes that Bitcoin has created a reputation that has endeared it to new investors.
Gaurav tells Cointelegraph:
“Bitcoin’s steady high growth is one the main reasons that is attracting more investors. Bitcoin had a massive rally in April, overall doubled from $1,000 to over $2,000 this year.”
Gaurav notes that recently, several regulators`and government decisions have been in favor of Bitcoin. For example, Japan has recognized Bitcoin as a legal payment method, then Australia, and more countries planning to do so. In the meantime, the SEC is reviewing its recent rejection of the Bitcoin ETF, and Russia who was anti-Bitcoin is planning to recognize it and other cryptocurrencies in 2018. Also, major industries and blue chips are now changing their position and becoming more receptive to cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is like gold
Gaurav adds that being comparable to gold, cryptocurrencies are also seen as a protection against political uncertainty like currently in the US and Brazil. Bitcoin has always performed better during political uncertainty and events like Brexit and movement on nationalism while the war on cash is fueling the crypto movement.
Even after strong scrutiny of Chinese exchanges interest in Bitcoin is still strong in the country. The second largest populated country India also started taking its baby steps in Bitcoin in spite of the warning from the Central bank (RBI). “Every day more than 2,500 people are joining the Bitcoin network in India and RBI is also taking recitations from its peers showing positive signal to the market,” he says.
A bizarre publicity technique
A rather unconventional factor identified by Gaurav to have contributed to the growth in awareness of Bitcoin is the recent hack Wannacry cyber attack in 150 countries. An exercise which exploited the mistakes of government and in the end attracted huge media attention towards Bitcoin. Due to this attack, many average consumers are learning and experiencing Bitcoin for the first time.
Then there is the effect of global trading markets, which includes FTSE100, Dax, S&P500 and MSCI`s World Index. These have shown record highs this year, making investors feel rich and more open to experimenting. Positive market signals coming from all the oracles provides exponential growth to Bitcoin but impacts mostly cryptocurrencies whose units are cheaper such as ripple, Ether, Dash, Moreno, and other major ones.
Gaurav concludes by noting that Bitcoin has proved that money can be created without centralized institutions and can work well, hence now all major altcoins are surging. The challenge posed by the prevailing delays in Bitcoin transactions has compelled users to consider other alternatives such as Litecoin. Litecoin has successfully implemented scaling solution SegWit, which not only made its own price increase but also increased hope in Bitcoin being able to solve its problem without a hard fork.