Translator|Jade
Source|Blockchain.News
The price of Bitcoin has been soaring this week, hitting a record high of US$19,918 on December 2, and is currently consolidating around US$19,000. The price of Bitcoin is largely driven by the demand of professional investors and institutions, who regard digital assets as a safe haven against the weakening of the US dollar. With the recent adoption of mainstream payment methods, retail investors’ investment in Bitcoin is also rapidly increasing.
According to Reuters (December 3), in this round of Bitcoin price increases of nearly 165%, it was mainly North American investors who made significant gains. This trend represents a shift in the encryption market, which was usually dominated by investments from Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea.
The report pointed out that “in mid-November, the weekly net inflow of bitcoins (mainly acting as new buyers) to platforms that mainly provide services for North American users increased by 7,000 times this year to 216,000, worth US$3.4 billion.”
At the same time, according to data from the blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, Asian exchanges lost 240,000 bitcoins, worth US$3.8 billion, during the entire November, compared with January when 1,460 bitcoins flowed in.
Reuters also reported that by strengthening the supervision of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, US investors have also been attracted. In general, the US exchanges are more strictly regulated, and government agencies such as the US Department of Justice and the Office of the Office of the Superintendent of Currency are also constantly working to clarify regulatory requirements.
Curtis Ting of Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange told Reuters:
“You will start to see the difference between markets more and more often, that is, the difference between a market without regulation or unclear regulation and a market with regulation.”
However, despite the data showing that Bitcoin’s dominance has shifted from Asia to the United States, industry experts warn that it is too early to announce a fundamental shift in the market, especially when the new crown pneumonia pandemic has caused market chaos this year. .
Bitcoin’s acceptance as a wealth reserve continues to increase
Bitcoin broke through $19,800 and reached a record high before the market cooled down. According to Peter Smith, the co-founder and CEO of Blockchain.com, the cryptocurrency market is returning to the level of 2017 price increases, but this time there is more room for growth, which is exciting.
Speaking of the rising sentiment in the US market, Smith said:
“From 2011 to 2014, Bitcoin was a huge experiment. From 2014 to 2017, we realized that it would work. From 2017, the Bitcoin frenzy will be inevitable. Bitcoin will be unstoppable.”
Bitcoin has been regarded as a wealth reserve and its acceptance has increased. Many people believe that Bitcoin will replace gold as a safe-haven asset. Smith agrees with this view that the gold market can compete with Bitcoin. But the CEO of Blockchain.com predicts that Bitcoin will soon be at least 10% of the market value of gold, which is 20 times today.
Bitcoin billionaires Tyler Winklevoss and Cameron Winklevoss also predict a similar situation with Bitcoin. The founder of Gemini Exchange told CNBC that by 2030, the price of Bitcoin will soar to 500,000 U.S. dollars, and will replace gold as a hedge currency with a market value of 9 trillion U.S. dollars. Tyler said:
“Our argument is that Bitcoin is gold version 2.0, which will overturn gold, which means that its market value must reach 9 trillion, so we think that one day we can see Bitcoin with a price of $500,000.”
According to the billionaire Bitcoin investor, even at its current highs, the room for price increases in Bitcoin makes it a good investment.
“Bitcoin is worth holding. If you haven’t bought it yet, now is the best time, because we think there will be a 25-fold upside.”
