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The bitcoin is worth, at the beginning of the year, 1,017.96 dollars, a level that the crypto-currency had not reached for three years. This record can be explained as much by its popularity in China as by a defiance to the official currency in some countries.
And the big winner of this early 2017 is ... the bitcoin. The famous dematerialized currency on the Internet had not experienced healthier brighter for three years. A bitcoin is worth, on Tuesday 3 January, $ 1,017.96. Last year at the same time, a bitcoin was trading against only 452 dollars.
The reason for the recovered health of this crypto-money, which allows anonymous transfer of money without going through an intermediary like a bank, is first to look for in China. In the last six months of 2016, three Chinese exchange exchanges of bitcoins accounted for more than 90% of all global transactions in this decentralized electronic currency. "The bitcoin is perceived against an instrument of protection against the erosion of the value of the Chinese currency," explains the daily Les Echos. The yuan decreases (-7% in one year) against the dollar, plus the Chinese turn to the bitcoin.
China, India, Venezuela and Zimbabwe
But Beijing and its hordes of bitcoin worshipers do not explain the spectacular rise in crypto-currency alone. People from other countries - such as Venezuela, India and Zimbabwe - have also turned more to it. What is the common ground between these three states? An official currency in full turmoil. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to withdraw large cuts (500 and 1,000 rupees) from circulation caused a panic in November. As a result, demand for bitcoins soared in the country, reports the American chain CNBC.
In Venezuela, the galloping inflation also benefited this currency 2.0. "A lot of people have lost confidence in the bolivar and now accept to be paid in bitcoins," said Rodrigo Souza, CEO of Surbitcoin, the main site of bitcoins exchange in Venezuela, interviewed by the British newspaper The Guardian . President Nicolas Maduro's decision to withdraw 100-bolivar bills - taken in mid-December but not yet implemented - reinforced Venezuelans' conviction of the need to find an alternative Savings. "The US dollar is still the main safe haven, but the bitcoin is gaining popularity," concludes the US economic site Forbes.
In Zimbabwe, a country that is going through a severe liquidity crisis, economists are even pushing for bitcoin to become an official means of payment.
