Who would have thought that the bitcoin they bought 7 years ago in a cent, would now cost more than $3000? Making the people who invested in digital payment system rich and proud of the lucky business choice they took in the past.
May 2017 has been a very progressive month for bitcoin as the prices of cryptocurrency kept surging and reached the highest of heights in the market. CNBC reported last month about the Bitcoin price hitting $1,600 and expected to increase more. According to the news, one investor also predicted about the rise of bitcoin price up to $4,000 within 8 to 14 months.
But the magic happened way before the expected time, as according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI), the value of bitcoin has already surpassed $3000 within a month, taking the market by storm. so what is actually happening with the Bitcoin bull going wild all of a sudden?
This latest boom in the demand of Bitcoin revolves around Asia. “According to CoinDesk, After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05. On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after halting withdrawals in early February amid scrutiny from the People’s Bank of China,” reports CNBC.
According to a survey, the growing demand of Bitcoin is its speculation in Asia. People are buying bitcoin not just for sending money to other people or buying things, but for speculative purposes as well. However, the growth of international money-transfer services remain steady in Asia. People choose to transfer money in the form of bitcoin as Western Union or MoneyGram seem to be slower and expensive, which is why the bitcoin exchange is always happening over there.
Another contributing factor is the recognition of cryptocurrency by Japanese government in April as a legal payment method, raising its value in Asia’s richest major economy.
Infamous from a recent global ransomware attack that demanded payment in bitcoins in exchange of unlocking the encrypted data, the cryptocurrency was traded by many victims in thousands of dollars, which could also be one of the reasons we’re seeing the bitcoin market flourishing these days.
Anyhow, the investors understand that the sudden fame and fortune brought by Bitcoin is a matter of luck, and investment in the high-priced bitcoin right now could be very risky.