Bitcoin was launched in 2009, then thousands of other digital currencies have followed it. Despite their immature market and volatile value, cryptocurrencies are very popular. Every day thousands of people invest their money in altcoins, more companies are adopting them, and more countries are recognizing cryptocurrencies. Users can even bet on slots games or العاب ماكينات القمار get Bitcoin from them. However, there are a lot of questions revolving around altcoins including what the price predictions are in the near future, what are the risks and how to buy cryptocurrencies. On this page, we will answer all these questions.
What Is Bitcoin Again?
For everyone who no longer knows what bitcoin, here’s a quick recap. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that can be used worldwide to pay. Paying with the currency works without a central bank. The transactions take place between users themselves.
Transactions take place via the blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin. You can also invest in bitcoin. There are risks associated with this because cryptocurrencies prices are very volatile. This means that the price can shoot up, but also suddenly fall sharply.
History of the Bitcoin Price
In 2013, one Bitcoin was worth $13.50. Within a few months, the price suddenly rose to USD 220 and fell again by USD 70 within a few weeks. Over time there have been many ups and downs. In 2017, the digital currency really broke through and the price was almost $20,000. In 2021 Bitcoin reached a price value of around $65,000, before falling again in 2022 to a value of around $20,000.
What Is the Long-term Price Outlook?
Bitcoin is the most well-known cryptocurrency and still has a lot of potentials. Over the long term, the estimated price appreciation could be huge. Some analysts predict that the long-term value of Bitcoin could reach as much as $100,000. Other analysts even predict that a bitcoin value of a million dollars is possible. The future will show what it will be.
More Investors Will Adopt Bitcoin
A lot of banks and global think tanks are anticipating that more large investors and even individual investors will turn to Bitcoin and its digital cousins. There are many reasons to support this expectation. Recent economic events have proven that all the world’s currencies can lose value within a few days and that speculating on fiat currency pairs is not as profitable as speculating on cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, there are many industries for which paper cash constitutes a barrier obstacle, as well as the cost of securing and collecting it remains high, so digital currencies will become the cheapest and best alternative for many industries in the long run.
Regulators Set Their Sights on Cryptocurrency
Although regulators now hate cryptocurrencies but there are reasons for them to change their view, if not now then it will happen in the near future. For example, for developing countries, national currencies can be linked to a portfolio of selected currencies with different weightings, which facilitates the process of attracting investments in the field of technology specifically. On the other hand, getting rid of the dollar’s hegemony constitutes a great opportunity for resource-rich countries to gain a competitive advantage over other countries as well as enhance the value of their national currencies.
At the time of this writing, cryptocurrencies are in the “grey zone” meaning that they are not fully legalized or completely banned in most countries. The main reason for this situation is the exaggerated volatility of cryptocurrency values. Therefore, cryptocurrencies with a fixed value can be better for regulators.
For cryptocurrency investors, more regulation means more stability in the cryptocurrency industry in the long term, as well as allowing more companies to support and accept cryptos. It is important not to forget that the reason for the resounding fall of Bitcoin in 2021 is China’s ban on all mining activities. Similarly, if the countries of the world allow and allow mining activities, this will reflect positively on the values of digital currencies.
Investing in Cryptocurrencies, What Are the Risks?
Investing in cryptocurrencies involves risks. When investing, the price depends on supply and demand. This is the case with stocks and cryptos. Yet there is a difference. If you buy a share, you become the owner of a small part of a company. A share, therefore, represents a value. This is not the case with Bitcoin. This is why the AFM prefers not to speak of investing, but rather of speculating.
No supervision
Another risk of investing in cryptocurrencies is that there is little supervision in this market. More and more parties want rules for investing in cryptocurrencies. This is to better protect consumers. Due to insufficient supervision, many criminals and scammers are active in the crypto market. It can just happen that a market or a party just disappears and then you lose all your money.
What Other Cryptocurrencies Are There?
The first cryptocurrency was of course Bitcoin, but over the years more and more crypto coins have been added. There are currently many hundreds in which you can invest. Many cryptocurrencies offer nothing new and are purely speculative, but there are also a few crypto projects that are very promising. We discuss the most important ones below:
Ethereum
Ethereum works slightly differently from bitcoin. The Ethereum network acts as a backbone on which decentralized applications. Ethereum has developed its own programming language called Solidity. Solidity makes it easier to program smart contracts and dApps.
Ripple
Ripple focuses on solutions to streamline payments between banks. This also includes a cryptocurrency, XRP. The coin can be used on Ripple’s blockchain to make payments between banks even faster. Transactions on the Ripple blockchain are very fast. Where with Bitcoin it can take a few 10 minutes to process a transaction, with Ripple it only takes a few seconds.
Cardano
Bitcoin and Ethereum use the proof of work mechanism to verify transactions. This is based on complex mathematical equations. Cardano works on the basis of a proof of stake mechanism. This mechanism is more efficient and requires less energy.
