Key Trends That Will Shape The Future Of Bitcoin
The world of digital currencies is growing rapidly with Bitcoin leading the charge. The concept of cryptocurrencies has taken centre stage more recently with growing awareness driving interest from investors. Whilst Bitcoin actually came into existence over a decade ago, it only started making headlines in early 2013. Interestingly, some futurists predict that digital currencies might replace national currencies by 2030.
Bitcoin (BTC) is both a cryptocurrency and a system of peer-to-peer payments in which transactions remain anonymous. It has a progressive and resource-intensive architecture, which is limited to a maximum of 21 million coins.
Take a look at the following five key trends that will shape the future of bitcoin.
1. Increased awareness of the cryptocurrency industry
The general public is becoming more aware of the crypto industry and how they can participate in it thanks to increased exposure in the mainstream media. Awareness and interest will likely increase further in the future as the industry develops.
2. A rise in consumer-friendly applications geared to block chain.
The development of new applications with practical utility value will be a key driver for adoption of bitcoin related projects. There have been a plethora of Initial Coin Offerings focussed in this area. This trend is expected to continue moving forward. However it will likely be in a more tightly regulated environment compared to the past.
3. Steady growth in search traffic
Google Trends released a report in 2018 for how the term “Bitcoin” is performing in search traffic. Google Trends for the terms “Bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” showed steady growth in traffic. A high correlation between search traffic and price was also observed. The ultimate viability of bitcoin rests on its network size. As the largest digital currency, the network size of bitcoin is currently two times more than Uber and almost four times bigger than American Airlines.
4. Use cases outside of the payments area upsurge
Many financial institutions are now seeing the potential opportunity of bitcoin and distributed ledgers on their businesses. For instance, many insurance firms have started exploring how the block chain technology and better improve their underwriting capability.
5. Venture capital (VC) money flows to block chain start-ups
Venture funds have shown increasing interest in BTC and related block chain start-ups. VCs have seen particular opportunities in areas surrounding block chain APIs and identity verification services. VCs are generally first to move in a market. Mainstream investors usually follow this. VC interest will ultimately drive innovation and new products so can only be seen as a positive indicator.
In summary, the whole concept of digital currencies is advancing fast and will likely shape how established companies interact financially in the future. Right now, Bitcoin is the most liquid and widely recognized crypto currency in the world. This means that bitcoin is key player in shaping a more advanced and democratically independent global society in the future.