Is Bitcoin going to be a roller coaster ride in 2018? Ah…..YES!
5 Key current facts about Bitcoin:
- Bitcoin is decentralised. This means its not controlled by anyone. Not a person, company, bank or Government. Its is censorship resistant and cannot be switched off. Its is however officially banned in Morocco, Nepal and Bolivia. Bitcoin by it very nature is extremely difficult to ban or control, so it will be interesting to see how these governments try to enforce this.
- Bitcoins current best use case is Digital gold, a store of value and many believe is in a head to head battle with gold.
- A layer two technology called Lightning network is being deployed on top of Bitcoins Blockchain in 2018. This will give Bitcoin many of the attributes other coins claim to have, such as fast cheap global payments for both large and small amounts, privacy, excellent security the list goes on. Lightnings successful deployment will have a huge bearing on the usability and value of Bitcoin over the next year and into 2019. The lightning project is the most important project in the Cryptocurrency space this year in our opinion.
- Blockchain technology is in its infancy, most of the coins/projects are nowhere near having the attributes they claim they have yet. Many are scams, be careful. Bitcoin is currently the best use case of Blockchain technology your likely to hear about this year in our opinion.
- If Bitcoin is abandoned by investors the whole ‘crypto as an investment’ space is in jeopardy, big time. FACT. Its unlikely and would be short lived in our opinion if this were to happen. Bitcoin underpins the whole crypto currency space. People are realising this fact now and money is coming out of many alt coins/crypto currencies and back into Bitcoin.
OK if you’ve understood these points you now know 99% more than most people. This article is designed to be a bit of a slap in the face compared to other beginners guides and commentary pieces. We deal with the current, need to know issues and info for 2018. Why? Because there are a ton of Bitcoin guides out there that are very good with regards to giving you the history blah blah blah. Go read em, we have one as well, click here for that article.
Please note we are not financial advisers and these are just our opinions at Hardforking.com. You should seek professional guidance and make your own mind up on any Bitcoin or Crypto investment. There we said it.
Is Bitcoin a good Investment in 2018?
Right lets get down to it. Most of you just want to know if Bitcoin is a good investment, especially compared to the huge amount of coins, tokens and ICO’s on offer. In our opinion it is for the following reasons.
- It’s the gold standard. The main coin that underpins the industry. We consider making gains on other coins just a process to get more Bitcoin. You enter and exit this market with Bitcoin ie you need to buy Bitcoin to buy most other crypto/alt coins.
- It has the most developers working on it.
- It’s the most well know project in Crypto.
- Its proved its resilience over 9 years and it’s an investment in freedom. WHAT? Freedom, what are these idealist idiots on about!! I just want to know if I can make loads of money from Bitcoin. Yes, you probably can and probably will. But we and many of the people making Bitcoin grow believe it represents a global censorship resistant way of retaining personal financial freedom.
Bitcoin is Money you Control, you are the bank
Imagine a cashless world, it is all digital, we are close. Now imagine a small amount of people with the ability to switch your money off. Missed a payment bang, your off, spent your digital money on something not approved in your country bang your gone. That’s the reality of a centralised digital cashless society. Now imagine another currency that’s not centralised (run by a bank, government, corporation) you can use it for whatever you want whenever you want and nobody can turn your monetary life off at their whim. So why not have both, your countries currency and Bitcoin. Most people have directly or indirectly used numerous currencies so why not add Bitcoin and all its wonderful attributes to that list.
What is Bitcoin in 2018, currency? A store of value? Both?
At the moment Bitcoin is regarded by many as digital gold, a store of value. Billionaire Peter Thiel the creator of Paypal and Facebooks maiden investor stated in March 2018:
I would be long Bitcoin, and neutral to skeptical to just about everything else at this point with a few possible exceptions. There will be one online equivalent to gold, and the one you´d bet on would be the biggest.
Thiel is a large holder of Bitcoin. He is just one of many big players that see it as a great investment and a hedge against the current mainstream economy stating.
I´m not talking about a new payment system. It´s like bars gold. In a vault that never move, and it´s sort of hedge of sorts against the whole world falling apart.
So while Peter Thiel and many other large investors see Bitcoin as a store of value we also think it will advance to a very useable currency, faster than most people think.
If you think that there are enough people on the planet who are accepting Bitcoin as form of value and that more people will use and accept it then Bitcoin with grow and grow and grow and therefor it is a GOOD INVESTMENT. If the lightning network is successful enabling Bitcoin to be used for day to day purchases efficiently then Bitcoin will be both a store of value and a usable currency. In this scenario Its price is likely to skyrocket.
Is Bitcoin a better investment than other Cryptocurrencies?
There is no hard and fast answer on this. Sorry. So many factors come into play.
If youve understood the five facts above then your a long way to understanding the value of Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the main coin. You really need to understand that it’s the only truly decentralised coin at present and that many of the other coins, tokens and ICO’s are either scams or just projects that might or might not work in the future. Don’t get us wrong there is a huge amount of innovation happening in crypto currencies and blockchain technology and therefor some great investment opportunities, many in our opinion. The reality however is they are not really decentralised and therefor are just not as interesting to us.
So many people miss the point. Most money is already digital so when you hear of a country issuing its own crypto currency as Venezuela has, it is not really a crypto currency as you would be led to believe, it’s a cashless centralised currency and we hope you understand the danger of that.
A key point to also understand is that if you want to buy a crypto currency then you usually need to purchase Bitcoin first then move your Bitcoin to an exchange to buy other Crypto currencies. It’s the big daddy at present and is likely to get bigger. Bitcoin can be purchase in many places, here are some of the better ones in our opinion. Buy Bitcoin
Is Bitcoin just for criminals? Can I buy drugs, hookers and guns with Bitcoin?
Yes you can buy drugs with Bitcoin. You can also give a drug dealer your TV, your cat or some eggs for drugs. Some hookers will also take the afore mentioned items as payment. Guns are much easier to buy with your local currency or credit card especially in the United states. Its stupid, boring and so misinformed to go any further on the topic other than to say its not very good for buying drugs. 2018 will see the governments realise this is not a technology designed for vice and slowly but surely look to regulate this new asset class in a more informed intelligent way.
Is Bitcoin legal? Will it be banned in your country in 2018?
Bitcoin is banned in a few countries, Morocco, Nepal and Boliva are ones we are aware of. China has banned the trading of Bitcoin and while its stance seems to be targeting exchanges and companies, not individuals, it is in a process of putting rules in place. We will keep you updated. It is totally stupid to try and ban bitcoin anyway and these governments will soon realise this. VPN’s, Bitcoins own satellite, buying from friends, Bitcoin meet ups are just some of many ways to get Bitcoin in countries that are attempting to enforcing a Bitcoin ban. It’s global money, not country specific. Some governments haven’t fully understood this.
Let us not confuse the perceived crack downs on Bitcoin in some countries with the likely legislation in your country regarding declaring profits on this new and exciting asset class. The United States of America’s congress is debating this at present and they seem to be taking a measured approach to how this will work. They are already working with coinbase the biggest exchange in the US on this. Yes, some stupid comments are coming out that show how some of these old senators just cant get their heads around it. But all in all it seems very hopeful they will not stifle innovation and drive economic growth to a more accepting country.
South Korea has just realised this after pausing to get some checks and balances in place on their booming Bitcoin and Crypto market. It is pretty crazy to think that a big contributor to Bitcoin crashing in Early 2018 was news of a crackdown in South Korea. The reality was they just wanted to implement standard practices like having to be ID verified to use an exchange to buy Bitcoin and Crypto. Something you will do if you use an exchange. People get jumpy fast in this industry and prices swing wildly as we saw in South Korea and all over what turned out to be nothing. South Korea is a big player in this space and along with Japan and the USA it will have the most influence on Bitcoins price this year in our opinion.
We think that in 2018 many countries will look to market themselves as Bitcoin/crypto friendly and enjoy massive economic gains in the coming years. Switzerland, Singapore, Slovenia, Bermuda and recently Malta have moved in this direction. They are giving legitimacy to ICO’s and putting good structure in place to help prevent ICO scams. In Maltas case, Binance, a very big exchange, is moving its operations there. This is a story to follow as it has far reaching ramifications for how exchanges will be viewed and legislated globally. We will keep you updated.
A hugely important point to understand is that the brokers and exchanges, the places you can buy Bitcoin and crypto, are growing in number by the day. Robinhood a new exchange is saying they will sell Bitcoin and crypto without a fee. They currently have a waiting list of over one million people but are only operating in a limited amount of US states at present. Their goal will be global though and they are a company to watch. Exchanges are effectively on ramps to the Bitcoin blockchain, not part of it. They can in the main be regulated and 2018 will see lots of action in this space.
Many already follow the law with regards to KYC (know your customer) hence you need to provide id when registering to buy Bitcoin and crypto currency. Some people prefer to stay off the grid by buying Bitcoin directly from another person or a decentralised exchange, that’s a personal decision for you. Mass adoption will take place on regulated exchanges though.
The United States is taking action against some ICO’s. ICO are initial coin offerings, you buy the token or coin before its listed on an exchange. The company uses your money to build a project that they have detailed in their white paper on their website. Many of these have been scams and the US government is going after some of those they consider securities or scams. We will keep you updated on this also. Main stream press is almost always negative around legal issue’s and this is confusing to newbies. The real concern of governments isn’t Bitcoin, it’s the booming ICO market. Over 5000 tokens are out there now and so many are scams. Governments are primarily trying to get a handle on this, not stop Bitcoin.
Hopefully in 2018 Bitcoin is not tarnished by the likely crack down on ICO’s, they are two VERY different things. We are concerned people wont understand this.
The main issue is defining if these ICO’s are in fact securities and therefor in breach of securities legislation. In the United states an excellent (sarcasm) test is likely to be applied called the Howey test. Here is the wiki link if you want to know more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEC_v._W._J._Howey_Co.
Now the Howey test was developed in 1946. I was not around then but Im pretty sure the people who came up with it were brilliant people and would be very proud that its likely to be used to figure out if spankcoin is a security.
Facebook and Google have banned crypto advertising in response to these ICO scams. Don’t confuse this with Bitcoin. They really are separate things and its important you understand this.
While we are discussing press and scams it is unfortunate but we do need to tell you that many websites and YouTube channels in the Bitcoin and crypto space are happy to push pretty much any paying customer at you. In many instances they have been aware of the potential ICO scam or rubbish they are advertising so be very careful where you get your news and information.
Bitconnect was a blatant scam and yet we saw it on many websites and pushed by Youtubers. It worthwhile looking at Youtubers old material to see if they sold out and emailing websites you are using for news and insight to get clarity on their position on this. Straight up ask them if they received ad revenue from Bitconnect and if so ask them to please explain. Look closely when deciding which websites/media to follow. If there are adds for companies that look suspicious or a website is teaming with ICO ads then be careful.
Its worth watching this clip. While there is some negative sentiment in it we think its good fun and accurate in its summary of the industry. Check it out.
You can check out our list of youtubers we consider the best to follow here. Please comment below with suggestions of good sources of news and information for everyone to check out. Remember this is an industry in its infancy, it’s the wild west and finding its feet so be careful out there and share good experiences with as many people as possible. We need to weed out the rubbish in this community and to some extent self regulate.
So to sum up our opinion of Bitcoins outlook for 2018 with regards to legislation, we think governments will start putting a tax frame work in place (fair enough) and target ICOs that were or are scams (GOOD). The general public will be confused when they see many ICOs getting a spanking and this will have price implications for Bitcoin. Our overall view though is that once the dust settles legislation will allow big business to enter this market. Once that happens we think the price of Bitcoin and other legitimate projects in crypto could boom and as they say in the industry go to the MOON.
Summary
In our opinion 2018 will be a roller coaster ride for Bitcoin. The mainstream media have to have big headlines and they will get them as some ICO’s/companies get hit with a big stick. This is a problem as Bitcoin could get unfairly tarnished.
We think as legislation becomes more common it could open the door for big business to buy into Bitcoin and in tandem the average person will start to have a closer look at Bitcoin as an investment. Growing media coverage both positive and negative will put Bitcoin on the radar of millions more people and this ultimately will create upwards pressure on the price. Could it go to $3000 (the current cost of electricity to produce a Bitcoin), YES. Could Bitcoin go to $50000 and beyond in 2018, YES. It is a wild, highly addictive ride, buckle up and get on board.
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