REASONS FOR BITCOIN RISE
Bitcoin has been gradually rising and has gone up with over 210% in the past 8 years since it was introduced into the market in 2009. Bitcoin has experienced a dramatic price rise which has doubled over a month and the value is now four times more than it was in the beginning of the year 2017. The price has been approximately as follows,
2009 1 Bitcoin = 0 USD
2010 1 Bitcoin = 0.003 USD
2011 1 Bitcoin = 31 USD
2012 1Bitcoin = 13 USD
2013 1 Bitcoin = 1202 USD
2014 1 Bitcoin = 1000 USD
2015 1 Bitcoin = 750 USD
2016 1 Bitcoin = 780 USD
NOV 2017 1Bitcoin = 10,700USD
Dec 2018 1Bitcoin = 3,740 USD
Dec 2019 1Bitcoin= 7,182USD
Dec 2020 1Bitcoin =28,956 USD
Dec 2021 1Bitcoin=46,206 USD
Dec 2022 1Bitcoin= 16, 538 USD
Dec 2023 1bitcoin =42, 556 USD
Dec 2024 1Bitcoin =???
Source: buybitcoinworldwide.com
Many speculations have been made concerning the rise of Bitcoin, since it is the first digital currency in the crypto currency world it is considered to be a pioneer. It has the biggest market cap. Many say it because it has grown popular and it is worldwide. The acceptance of Bitcoin as a means of exchange is also increasingly being accepted. Freelancers, suppliers and other sellers are increasingly accepting Bitcoin as a form of currency just like any other currency such as the Dollar.
Well this can be one of reason since when it started in 2009 many people had no idea what it was but as time passed by people started investing in it. People tend to trust something that has been there for sometimes and they want a network that is stable with the assurance they wouldn’t lose their money.
bitcoin rise: Fixed supply
Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million BTC. Currently, about 16.5 million BTC have been mined so far. People therefore think that Bitcoin will continue to rise because of this aspect and there is no limit, technically, to how high it can go. Currently, what we have seen is that it is still volatile with price fluctuations. Every time it goes high, it is followed by a drop. Many people have predicted that this is similar to what happened to dot com bubble in the 1990s.
As many people started to use Bitcoin, mining difficulty increased. The amount of coins in circulation is less than the demand. The coins cannot be increased based on market forces like in the current case of Fiat currency which can be increased or reduced based on central bank regulations.
Increased attention
Media hype has significantly made the Bitcoin price to increase. Media has a lot of influence in the society and in the recent past it has been frequently covering positive news concerning Bitcoin. They have helped in popularizing the adoption of Bitcoin around the world. In the early years of Bitcoin, there was hardly any news on Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency especially in the mainstream media. The only focus was major ll on niche blogs, social media and other media outlets. However, since 2013, with increased rise of Bitcoin, major news channels started to report on Bitcoin. Other forums such as Reddit, Bitcointalk and Twitter also helped popularize Bitcoin as more and more people talked about it. Celebrities, corporate personalities, entrepreneurs, investors and regulatory agencies have also increasingly given their opinion on Bitcoin. Majority has positively reviewed Bitcoin while others have also speculated its downfall. Whichever case, they have propelled growing interest in Bitcoin.
Anticipated segwit2X also influenced the major price rise between October to November. Segwit is when a change occurs in terms of rules guiding a cryptocurrency. When a segwit, or fork, occurs, there is a formation of new cryptocurrency. Segwit2X was proposed in order to increase the size of Bitcoin blocks from 1MB to 2MB. Some people thought this is a good idea while others did not. In crypto world when such disagreements occur, there is a formation of new currency with a different set of rules.
This would have allowed faster transaction processing. As people anticipated creation of new Bitcoin, there was increased interest. An earlier fork had occurred that led to formation of Bitcoin cash. All those with Bitcoin were able to get an equal amount of Bitcoin cash for free. This was the anticipated case for SegWit2X. However, segwit2x was cancelled due to lack of consensus among the community.
The price of Bitcoin has been believed to continue rising in the coming years with more mainstream adoption. Bitcoin has made a significant progress since it was establish in 2009, still mass adoption has not occurred and it is interesting to see what happens as debate intensifies on the industry. The price changes are expected to continue.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute investment advice on Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, just opinion and review. Please conduct due diligence and own research if you want to invest in any cryptocurrency.
