Now that 2016 is done, all the reviews and reports have started rolling in. Among all the numbers and endless data, Bitcoin rises above the rest as the currency with the best performance of the year. While many of us are still baffled by the concept, others are embracing it. There are a number of contributing factors that are believed to have propelled the value to its highest in three years.
According to an interesting read in the Washington Post, the reasons behind the sharp increase are closely related to global events. If you think about what happened throughout the year, for example, the UK left the European Union and Donald Trump won the US presidential election, it’s believable that people are running scared in search of security.
From the perspective of one analyst, Chris Burniske of a firm known as ARK Investment Management, Bitcoin is a “disaster hedge”. He said, “People are using it similar to how they use gold. They use it as a risk-off trade when they’re concerned about what’s going on in the capital markets.”
Worrisome events are also happening on the financial front in countries like India and Venezuela. The decision to pull India’s largest cash note from circulation combined with the decrease of Venezuela’s currency has sent citizens on the hunt for a solution – a search that has led them to Bitcoin.
Even e-wallet providers like Neteller and Skrill made moves that cost them customers. Will users turn to Bitcoin? Welcome to 2017. We’ll just have to wait to see what’s in store for us.
Sources:
‘Why bitcoin just had an amazing year’, Ana Swanson, washingtonpost.com, January 3, 2017
‘Bitcoin Price Soars, Fueled by Speculation and Global Currency’, nytimes.com, January 3, 2017