Crypto currency update

I will follow in this post the same structure that I used last year when I looked at what had happened in the bitcoin and crypto currency world. Let’s then go ahead and make a summary about last year – the year 2019.

Price was going up

The price of the bitcoin was going steadily up until the middle of the summer when the price peaked at 13.000 USD. Then it dropped to around 6.700 USD in December and gained a bit by the end of the month. The price at the end of the year was about 7.300 USD, about 100% up from the year before. (But still 63% down from the highest valuation at the end of 2017, and 700% up from the beginning of 2017).

When Bitcoin’s value peaked in June 2019, it was again the most searched term in google (check it at Google trends) globally.

Big events

There was speculation that bitcoin could save Argentina and rumors that Russia might make a big investment in bitcoin. Bitcoin has not saved Argentina yet ;), but Argentina did take some small steps towards using it.

Exchanges launched Bitcoin futures

Nasdaq confirmed bitcoin futures launch and later NYSE did the same.

J.P. Morgan first denied crypto, but then quickly introduced its own.

Blockchain mobile phone was launched

HTC lauched a smartphone that supported bitcoin and there were rumors that Samsung would be doing the same.

Some apps, like Square, were moving to adopt the lightning network, that would increase the transfer capacity greatly.

Facebook introduced Libra

Around the middle of the year, Facebook told more about its cryptocurrency project and got instant opposition from Europe and soon went to senate hearing in the US. The US treasury department voiced its concerns and law makers considered banning it. Soon after that, Facebook started to claim that if they are not allowed to do it, then the Chinese will do it first. However, that did not convince central banks.

SEC stopped Telegram

Telegram was the other high profile company that was supposed to launch its crypto currency at the end of the year, but SEC filed an emergency motion to stop it. Telegram offered to return the ICO money to the investors, since they didn’t succeed to launch their TON in time. However, investors didn’t want to take it back. SEC is powerful, but seems to be missing authority as it is claiming that tokens are essentially same as securities, although they are completely different (IMHO).

LINE App received final regulatory approval

LINE App received final regulatory approval in Japan, and launched a cryptocurrency exchange service for its 80 million Japanese users. They are planning to start trading of their own LINK token in April 2020 in Japan. They already launched it internationally last year, but since almost half of their users are in Japan, this is a significant addition.

Countries are testing it

Venezuela is testing Bitcoin in addition to their own crypto (Pedro), and North Korea is thinking about building its own crypto. Marshall Islands is proceeding to launch its own crypto, perhaps just before China or Switzerland.

What is the current state?

• Bitcoin’s price went up at the end of December to about 7.300 USD.
• Bitcoin trading volume has been growing steadily. In 2019, there were already days when the amount of value transferred per day was double that of the peak in 2017. The Bitcoin network is processing 10 Billion USD per day.
• Bitcoin awareness is still improving and is closing to 90%.
• Statistics from localbitcoins are showing that individual people are purchasing bitcoins still actively. (There is a significant drop in the chart around September, but it is claimed to be because local bitcoin is loosing market share since the regulation has hit it, and not due to decreased interest in Bitcoin).
• Statistics from bitcoin ATMs are telling the same story. The number of bitcoin ATMs has grown 50% during 2019.
• Businesses that accept Bitcoin are also going up

Looking at the future

• Bitcoin usage in Venezuela continues to grow, although it is still an uphill walk.
• India still has a hostile attitude towards crypto currencies, but they are not (yet) illegal there either.
• Telegram TON launch is pushed to April 30, 2020.
• Bitcoin mining rewards will halve. That will reduce the offering and might lead to a hike in the price, as the demand seems to be growing through the different venues and usage. And miners aren’t probably willing to sell their coins below the production cost that will almost double.
• “Say hello to a new monetary system”
  

A new summary next year!

Read more here about the most impactful crypto companies in the year 2019.