When the World Followed Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is at its peak, but can Bitcoin keep its lead?

By Darryl Weng

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The EU nations think they've got it again. Evidently, I am referring to cryptocurrency. Recently, the EU decided that they would create their own cryptocurrency and, therefore, eliminating the need for reliance on U.S based Bitcoin. But it's not just the EU who are making moves - it's also China. Communist China has already begun mining and making cryptocurrency for their own gains. Since communist China intends to promote its own cryptocurrency, communist China has already decreased mining of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other U.S based cryptocurrencies. In essence, nations all around the world are taking cryptocurrency matters into their own hands, drifting away from American cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

With nearly all the major countries around the world straying away from Bitcoin especially, there seems to be no room left for Bitcoin to grow, except inside the U.S. As a result, speculations that Bitcoin may be a "well worth your time" investment are flawed. Countries not making their own cryptocurrencies like India are developing bans for cryptocurrencies in their entirety. Even if Bitcoin were to dominate its future competitors globally, which is quite likely, Bitcoin will likely face rejection from many markets across the world.

However, Bitcoin still thrives in the U.S. Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin or even Ethereum are no where close to the popularity and welcome Bitcoin receives. It is especially clear from the U.S markets. With Bitcoin's stock currently fluctuating with around a few thousand dollars above thirty thousand, Bitcoin seems to have returned to normalcy, despite the pandemic still occurring. Although Bitcoin's stock was more than a fourth of the current price it held around a year ago, the trend from late January(of this year) till now sees the lowest price of around thirty thousand. Interestingly enough, the introduction of Bitcoin into Tesla customer paying systems led Bitcoin's stock to increase significantly, and the announcement of Bitcoin being taken off of the available paying styles to buy a Tesla led Bitcoin's stock to decrease significantly - dropping all the way to thirty thousand. Observing this kind of volatility and manipulation in Bitcoin's stock sets the question for: what is the bottom line? If Bitcoin were to enter a competition with other cryptocurrencies across the world(developed by countries themselves) and become banned by various countries around the world, the possibility that the bottom line may decrease substantially could soon become plausible.

To understand Bitcoin's concerning situation more clearly, one must analyze the efficacy of the tech behind the cryptocurrency itself. First, Bitcoin is not anonymous. This was a common misconception Bitcoin users had before any government intervention. A major example is during the hack of Colonial Pipeline. When Colonial Pipeline payed ransom to hackers, the U.S government was able to recover more than half of the money stolen. If Bitcoin was anonymous, the U.S government would not have been able to trace the hackers' identities of any sort. Once again, this is a lesson that anything dealt on the internet can be traced and retrieved. Therefore, the conclusion that Bitcoin is "invincible" is incorrect. Second, Bitcoin is generally unsafe, given that any victim of Bitcoin theft has no reputable authority to report to. More specifically, password recoveries are not possible and attacks(malware, phishing attacks, ransomware, etc.) will likely not be reported. Sadly, the reputation and appeal of Bitcoin is not as enticing as a year ago. Simply put, Bitcoin's situation is more dire than ever.

The answer to the question of whether to invest or not in Bitcoin may be summarized in a few words: do not invest. At this point of time, Bitcoin's stock faces to many risks of unprecedented fluctuations that may drop Bitcoin below thirty thousand or even twenty thousand. The volatility of Bitcoin's stock is currently not a desirable factor. For now, before the year ends, Bitcoin may still hold its stock price. So if you're not fast enough, you might miss the chance to buy and sell Bitcoin before it plunges.