For Bitcoin (BTC), the year 2017 was a year to remember. While most Bitcoin bulls would rather forget the year after that. These digital assets are known to be volatile but exciting-- and that is the nature of cryptocurrency investing. It’s time to size up Bitcoins’s progress in 2019 now that another year has passed.
A sea of tranquility is not how we can define Bitcoin for this year. But when we compare it from the two preceding years, it’s not much of a roller-coaster ride. In fact, throughout much of 2019, there was some price stability. Still, there were some noteworthy events surrounding Bitcoin and there were large moves in both directions.
Shakeouts can be seen in all asset classes. These will cause beginners to sell at the worst possible time due to downward price swings. It will then be bought at a lower price by those smart money or institutional investors. The price retraces upwards after that.
At the tail end of 2018, Bitcoin had a substantial shakeout period. To be more specific, on December 15, 2018, Bitcoin reached a low point of $3,122. Next, for 3.5 months, between $3,300 and $4,200 Bitcoin stabilizes. Though the bleeding had apparently stopped, investor’s patience faced a major test.
Then by June 26, came the massive bull run in which the Bitcoin price rocketed all the way to $13,880. Though there were some differences, it still felt like 2017 all over again. The ICO hype precipitated the price surge in 2017. Much more institutional interest is behind this summer’s price move.
The forthcoming Libra Project of Facebook (FB) was announced during that time. The potential to introduce digital assets to billions of users worldwide is also possessed by Libra. So, the mainstreaming of digital assets would still probably benefit Bitcoin even if it doesn’t directly relate to Bitcoin.
The Libra Project is financially pledged back by big companies such as Mastercard (MA), Visa (V), PayPal (PYPL), and eBay (EBAY) as a result. We can consider this to be the most significant cryptocurrency-related event of the year when we look back.
However, the excitement then soon tempered. The Libra Project head David Marcus was interrogated by the U.S. Congress in July. They then grilled Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg a few months later. Citing data-privacy concerns along with worries that Facebook wants to become a bank, American policymakers were decidedly skeptical of Libra Project.
The big companies that pledged their financial support to the Libra Project withdrew in October. And, through the second half of 2019, this support proved to be a catalyst for a steady rice decline. Bitcoin traded between $6,800 and $7,500 for much of December.
However, Bitcoin cannot consider October as all bad news. The Bitcoin price leaped from October 24 to 26. This is when the developing of China’s blockchain technology was committed to be made according to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
A pledge to crack down illegal cryptocurrency exchanges was reiterated by Chinese authorities around that same time. This talk is new though somewhat discouraging. In 2017, this type of threat from China was already heard.
The Bitcoin bull market seemed to remain intact by the end of the year. Since the beginning of 2019, the Bitcoin price has doubled. Also, with nearly 12 million BTC transactions, May of 2019 proved to be Bitcoin’s busiest month ever.
It’s somewhat difficult to extrapolate Bitcoin’s price into the future because of its wild price action. Besides, we have to expect growing pains since it’s a new technology. Still, to make us bullish in 2020, the upcoming Libra Project and China’s commitment to blockchain technology will definitely make us to.
The ability to bounce back from almost anything has been demonstrated by Bitcoin. Therefore, there is a possibility that in the cards of 2020, the 2019’s prior high mark of $13,880 will still be present. New technologies to develop and new records breaking is a must-see as we welcome a new exciting year on the blockchain brought to us by Bitcoin.
YourIRSTaxAdvocate.com