Please not that this is less of a how can I line my pockets with cash, and more of a what will the effects of a Bitcoin crash be kind of article.
The main users of bitcoin tend to be criminals (who are abandoning that in favour of other cryptocurrencies – more on that later), speculators, and people who use it as a currency – but this isn't really viable as it costs £8-£40 in transaction fees to buy stuff, and with China (which powers 75% of mining) cracking down on Bitcoin mining this price will just go up.
We can clearly see what will happen if there is a crash:
- Criminals and those who use it a currency will likely continue using it, as there will be more stability – as it's crashed it can't really go any further down (meaning you might actually be able to use it as a currency).
- Speculators will stop speculating, as they will have lost money and it's unlikely to go up again for a short while (when it does go up again, they'll all flock back).
But will a Bitcoin crash drive the rest of the cryptocurrency market down? Well, it depends on whether the price of Bitcoin goes down just randomly or people choose to migrate to better, altcoin alternatives. What could these alternatives be?
- Tether. A currency which remains within about 5% (give or take) of the dollar, it seems like a likely alternative – although you do loose the decentralised bit as you're dependant on the creators, and their banks to keep the currency Tethered. It also seems rather pointless, when you could just use online banking.
- Patientory. Patientory is not just a cryptocurrency, it also transfers medical records around the US – securely, using the blockchain
- Steem – I'm pretty sure you know what that is.
These alternatives tend to offer something different to Bitcoin, whether it be a fixed price or it ties into something in the real world (giving it some actual value).