The most famous cryptocurrency ever with the biggest market cap. Bitcoin shook the market when it emerged, and even after the rough period of its history it’s still the most valuable crypto out there, but what is Bitcoin’s future? We will present you what are the reasons why it could fall, and the reasons we think it will stay “forever” with us.
Bitcoin is anonymous – some say it’s not.
Firstly, when it comes to the most noticeable advantage of Bitcoin – the anonymity. So is it true that Bitcoin is completely anonymous? The answer is no, not really. Indeed, you can’t find information about who owns a certain Bitcoin wallet, but there are some ways to find the user if he’s not careful.
That’s why some countries banned the use of Bitcoin because it was used for illegal transactions. For example, in 2014 the famous online drug market Silk Road was shut down, and Bitcoin was one of the main payment methods. Another example – in 2017 WannaCry ransomware used Bitcoin to collect ransom from users.
In the end, although mostly secure, Bitcoin is not as anonymous as some think it is. And if we look at the future, governments may make more restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies, which will make them even less anonymous.
There are lots of other cryptocurrencies
The second thing that could mean the fall of Bitcoin is the appearance of other cryptocurrencies. This year we saw lots of “pumps” which were caused by the appearance of new cryptocurrencies and ICOs.
For example, there were lots of cryptocurrencies that appeared because of forks – Litecoin, DogeCoin, and others. There were also a lot of new cryptocurrencies which appeared because of ICOs – Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Stellar, and many others. All these cryptocurrencies have their advantages and disadvantages compared to Bitcoin, so it is quite possible that soon Bitcoin won’t be the most valuable cryptocurrency out there.
And even if we don’t take into account all those cryptocurrencies out there which came from forks and ICOs, there are still lots of new coins which appeared this year thanks to the “bubble”. These new coins have strong support from their communities and some even have great potential – Tron (TRX), EOS (EOS), ICON (ICX), etc.
Bitcoin has problems with scaling and speed
The last thing we want to mention is the scalability problem. A lot of people say that Bitcoin can’t keep up with today’s popularity and needs to scale up to handle more users. We already know that Bitcoin can process about 5 transactions per second (TPS) maximum, while PayPal is capable of handling 193 TPS and Visa – 24000 TPS. If Bitcoin doesn’t handle this problem, then maybe another cryptocurrency will replace it.
Why Bitcoin will stay relevant in the market for a long time
So we’ve discussed the reasons why Bitcoin could fall, but there are also reasons why it will probably stay relevant on the market. We all know that blockchain technology is a really powerful solution, and it will be used in multiple spheres, which means that a lot of new users will appear on the market. And these new users will need to use cryptocurrencies because of the low fees, anonymity, and a multitude of other features that only cryptos offer.
Furthermore, as soon as other cryptocurrencies appear, people will want to invest in them, so they’ll need some sort of exchange – like Poloniex or Binance. And to get other cryptocurrencies than Bitcoin, they’ll probably need to buy Bitcoin first. That’s why Bitcoin might not be the most valuable cryptocurrency out there, but it will still be one of the most used ones.
Another reason for Bitcoin staying relevant is the fact that it is already mainstream. There are now things you can buy exclusively with cryptos, for example, online casino games like bitcoin slots can only be played if you own the cryptocurrency. Even if you don’t know much about cryptos, you probably heard about Bitcoin at least once. It has been years since it appeared, and a lot of people started using it, so it’s impossible to simply get rid of it now. If you’re an investor who bought Bitcoin when it was cheap, then you’re probably happy that you did that, because even now its price is a lot bigger than when you bought it. And if you invested in other cryptocurrencies, then you have some sort of a portfolio of coins that you can’t just forget about.
And the last reason why we believe that Bitcoin will stay relevant in the market is because of the future Bitcoin forks. For example, Bitcoin Gold – forked from Bitcoin in October 2017, and its price went up during the fork, and after that, it was traded on exchanges. And now Bitcoin Cash is getting ready for its fork – November 15th, and since this fork was announced, BCH’s price went up high. This shows that even though new coins are being created, they still give profit to their holders.
So we’ve analyzed all pros and cons of Bitcoin staying relevant in the market, and now we hope that you’re more aware of this topic and can make your conclusion.
