From 1k to 5k
The price of Bitcoin have shown a rollercoaster of movements in the last 30 days, and almost no one was prepared for. This summer was specially good for cryptocurrencies, with big names and rising stars, a hot market and the value of Bitcoin and anything like it getting to the sky.
In the beginning of 2017 Bitcoin was around $1000, with big increases in market cap and more development in the ecosystem. Bitcoin was getting stronger and stronger, and it was the discovery of ICOs as a financial vehicle for new ideas and companies that launched the price to breaking all time highs. It was only three weeks ago when Bitcoin was almost breaking 5k mark when... China happened.
Is China messing with everything?
Since a couple weeks China has been on the spotlight due to state regulations on ICOs and now rumors of exchange's ban coming up. This has hit the prices on all kind of tokens and coins, devaluation of the crypto market in general and fear on investors. According Chinese authorities about 90% of the money flowing into the Initial Coin Offerings is coming from money laundry or fraud. The threat of the crypto comes to set off the alarms of a country that has special control over movements of capital out of their territory.
The Chinese government is reacting to the chaos, but that does not means they don't see the value and their important role in this financial revolution. Today China is one of the biggest crypto miners of the planet, they have foster several of the big stars of the crypto startups, and about 40% of the world trade comes from China. After the ICO ban an official news agency stated that China has big plans for the blockchain technology and plans to stay at the top of it. So this means that whatever happens over there will affect the rest of us, yes, but is not as bad as you might think.
All money being poured on Bitcoin and other alt-coins comes from Asia, specially South Korea, Singapore and China. The last one, currently putting control over something that can not be controlled by definition, even though that, the neighboring countries are not taking the same approach. Even Russia is heading towards a mining revolution led by the government. South Korean have been pumping the market and is one of the big pushers for more crypto.
This weekend rumors has come to alert about a ban of Chinese exchanges, which represents a big chunk of world wide trade. Now, if the Chinese government takes this road, we already know it will be temporary, because the intentions are not to stop Bitcoin, is just to control it (if possible) And China sees the importance of keeping ahead in the game, now everyone is looking at the crypto and its consolidations, industry and economy.
Shortage will increase demand
If China actually bans the exchanges, like it has done in the past, what we will face is a shortage of Bitcoin. We are talking still 60% of the market will keep running, still Q4 2017 is the time for many companies on the field start to deliver products and demands. So, if is not the end of the world, I think is going to be the ignition of the last pump of the year, that many have been anticipating.
With major exchanges closed, tons of accounts will be frozen for a while, the market will still demand coins, even more with rising economies in the region getting more involved with crypto, Singapore and Thailand as examples. The Korean market is diving into the crypto due tensions with its northern neighbor. A possible conflict in the area always means more spendings and we hope this crypto assets will get carried away into the spend.
I think a possible shortage of Bitcoin will increase its price, even Max Kaiser is saying it will hit the trillion dollars. But if you have been reading the news and speculators on the market, almost everyone is expecting the price will reach and surpass the 5k mark before the end of 2017. So, what do you think?
Thank you for reading and please share your thoughts in the comments section.
Cheers!
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