Bitcoin and its fellow altcoins were surely the trending topics for at least the last two quarters of 2017. And I hope to see this trend continue throughout 2018 too.
The rapid growth of cryptocurrencies in 2017 has attracted a lot of investors. As a result, there are more people than ever using and investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Some of these people do not even know about cryptocurrencies but are blindly investing anyway. And this is a very risky behavior, to say the least.
But some people are investing because they want to know more about this technology. And by investing they are trying to be an active part of the community.
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I personally respect these people and Coinsuggest is mainly targeted towards these audiences. It’s Coinsuggest’s mission to educate more people about the blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
We believe that this will immensely help in adopting these technologies. Plus it will help investors to make educated guesses without following some “guru’s” advice.
In this article, I want to discuss a topic that I have been facing since the last few weeks. Newcomers and even veteran cryptocurrency investors are wondering whether they should invest in Bitcoin anymore.
This is a very important and at the same time extremely sensitive topic to talk about. So let’s break it down!
Contents
WHAT IS BITCOIN?
Bitcoin is an open source peer to peer decentralized digital currency. A pseudonymous individual or group of individuals called Satoshi Nakamoto released the whitepaper for this cryptocurrency in 2008.
Satoshi published the open source code for Bitcoin in January 2009.
On the same month, the Bitcoin network started its operation as Satoshi mined the first ever block on 3rd January. Termed as the “Genesis Block“, this block had a 50 Bitcoin reward entitled to it.
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Beginners guide to Mining Cryptocurrencies.
The first ever transaction on the Bitcoin network took place between Satoshi and programmer Hal Finney. It is often claimed that Hal Finney was the first person to download the Bitcoin software.
The transaction was for only 10 BTC.
During Bitcoin’s initial day it was only used by computer programmers and digital currency enthusiasts. So as Bitcoin had a very small user base, it was extremely cheap.
According to some during this period Satoshi mined about 1 million BTC as there was very little competition. Some cryptocurrency enthusiasts also claim that Satoshi still owns 1 million BTC, a claim that has no strong evidence behind it.
Satoshi quit Bitcoin in 2010 and handed the Bitcoin Core repository to Gavin Andresen. Satoshi Nakamoto somehow disappeared after this.
Gavin Andresen started working on decentralizing the whole Bitcoin project as soon as it was handed on to him. Currently, he is the lead developer of the Bitcoin Foundation, a decentralized group that is responsible for maintaining the Bitcoin project.
Currently, Bitcoin has a market cap of $255 billion and one BTC costs more than $15000. So it is safe to say Bitcoin has a come a long way from its initial days.
The order was intermediated by another Bitcointalk user named jercos (Jeremy Sturdivant). This transaction marks the first time Bitcoin was used to purchase a good.
FEATURES OF BITCOIN
Let’s talk about the features of Bitcoin and how it is different from the traditional currencies.
DECENTRALIZED
Respective governments control traditional currencies. They have the power to print new monetary units. This causes inflation and money lose its purchasing powers.
Plus governments can fail anytime! And if a government fails then the currency of that country either gets hyper-inflated or completely collapses. So we have to put a lot of trust in the government when dealing with fiat currencies.
But in case of Bitcoin, this is not an issue. Bitcoin is a decentralized payment system where each and every user has a vote. Technically you are your own bank in Bitcoin.
Plus Bitcoin resides on the internet so it cannot be governed by the law of a single government.
FIXED SUPPLY
Unlike fiat currencies which can have infinite amounts of currency notes, Bitcoin has a fixed supply of BTC. There can only be a maximum of 21 million BTC.
This is Bitcoin’s way of dealing with inflation. Plus this is also responsible for creating the value of Bitcoin, as it is not based on any physical commodity. Currently, there are 16.7 million BTC in circulation.
The Bitcoin mining rate is slowly slowing down and is expected to reach an end in 2050. Scientists believe if Bitcoin survives the next few decades then in 2050, there will be 1 BTC for approximately every 500 people.
EASY TO USE
Even for beginners, Bitcoin is extremely easy to use. All you need is the BTC units and a wallet to keep them. This makes Bitcoin extremely portable.
Bitcoin is also a global currency so it will work on any part of the globe if you have an internet connection.
BITCOIN’S GROWTH THROUGHOUT 2017
Bitcoin started the year 2017 on a positive note with a price of around $1000 per BTC. It saw a high price of $4000 in August. And that is when Bitcoin started gaining the interest of mainstream media.
August was also the month when the Bitcoin Cash hard fork took place.
Since August Bitcoin has never looked back. Yes, there were a few dips here and there but at the end of the day Bitcoin continuously grew.
Bitcoin reached all time high price of $19,000 (both for the year and Bitcoin’s lifetime) in December. Right now Bitcoin has an average price of more than $15,000.
So if we start calculating from January 1st of 2017 up to the $19,000 mark of December we find that Bitcoin has grown more than 1800%.
Back then Bitcoin had a market cap of about $15.5 billion and right now it has a market cap of $264.6 billion. This gives us a market cap growth figure of 1607%.
Undoubtedly, Bitcoin investors have reaped a lot of profits throughout the whole year. Some have even become billionaires. While others may not have experienced such lucks, they still have profited a lot from Bitcoin.
SHOULD YOU INVEST IN BITCOIN IN 2020
I always believe in investing wisely because at the end of the day it’s my hard earned money. So if you ask questions like “should I invest in this..” then chances are you are also a wise investor. The worse thing you can do when investing is letting your emotions take over.
You should always invest logically not emotionally. You should pay more attention especially in the case of a high volatility market like cryptocurrencies. So let us logically analyze whether you should invest in it or not.
BITCOIN HAS THE HIGHEST MARKET CAP
Currently, Bitcoin has a market cap of $264 billion making it the cryptocurrency with the highest market cap. In comparison, the second highest XRP has a market cap of around $120 billion.
So Bitcoin still has double the market than Ripple. This makes Bitcoin the king of all cryptocurrencies.
BITCOIN HAS THE MOST MARKET DOMINANCE
It is no surprise that Bitcoin controls most of the market. This is partly because Bitcoin has been here for the longest than any other cryptocurrencies.
It took as long as 2011 to see another cryptocurrency in the market.
BITCOIN IS STILL THE MASS FAVORITE
When it comes to cryptocurrencies Bitcoin is still the mass favorite. Most people actually know cryptocurrencies through Bitcoin. So in my opinion Bitcoin is never going to lose its crown anytime soon. Bitcoin has become the unofficial “official” tender for most Venezuelans.
After the country’s economy started becoming hyper-inflated, people switched to Bitcoin. Venezuelans have almost ditched the country’s original tender Venezuelan Bolivar and are using BTC for day to day activities.
We see the same trend in debt-ridden Greece, unstable Ukraine and even in hyper-inflated Zimbabwe.
BITCOIN HAS THE BIGGEST ECOSYSTEM
Out of all the 1300+ cryptocurrencies that are available, today Bitcoin has the biggest ecosystem. It has numerous exchanges for trading, various wallets for storing, a handful of services for mining and what not!
It even has ATM networks, unlike many other well-established cryptocurrencies. Also, there are a lot of businesses which has started accepting Bitcoin as a payment method.
BITCOIN FUTURES TRADING
Back in December 2017, we saw CBOE launch its Bitcoin futures trading option. This allows investors to bet their money on Bitcoin without owning a single BTC units.
CME group also launched Bitcoin futures trading. This futures trading option has gained Bitcoin the spotlight in mainstream media.
So you can safely say that Bitcoin is still relevant and will continue to be in 2018. So if you have the money and willing to take the risk then you can invest in Bitcoin.
BUT…
… Bitcoin has performed poorly than several other altcoins. Cryptocurrencies like Ripple, NEM, Ardor, Litecoin, IOTA, Ethereum have performed much better than Bitcoin.
For example the real-time gross settlement cryptocurrency XRP saw huge 36000% growth in 2017! Even Binance Coin, a coin that has only one practical use that is to pay Binance fees, has seen more growth than Bitcoin. So keep this in mind when investing in Bitcoin.
FINAL WORDS
This brings us to the end of another article. I tried my best to analyze the question and come up with the most logical answer. Bitcoin has been the king of cryptocurrencies since 2009 and it still continues to be.
I expect to see it grow even further and achieve more goals in 2018. But altcoins like Ripple which has a much stronger practical use case than Bitcoin is going to take over Bitcoin in the end. Well, that’s my speculation and you don’t have to agree with me.
Cryptocurrencies are, for the most part, hits and misses. So it is very hard to say something with utmost confidence. That is why only time can tell what lies in the future for us.
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