Even though bitcoin has been declining in the last month and a half and is dragging down the entire cryptocurrency market, some investors continue to believe in it. Probably, they are even right, since, in the long run, it is quite possible that bitcoin will grow to that notorious $100,000 per coin. The problem is that almost all the "crazy" forecasts for bitcoin do not have any specific deadlines. Anyone can say that bitcoin will cost $100,000, but what is the point if no one names the terms and specific reasons? Everyone says that bitcoin is a new opportunity, it is convenient, decentralized, not subject to governments and central banks, and so on. However, there are plenty of cryptocurrencies in the world right now.
Ethereum is already encroaching on the place of bitcoin, it is also traded on the commodity exchange, there are also a huge number of derivatives for it, and many experts consider ether to be more attractive as a means of circulation and payment. Recall that in general, cryptocurrencies were created to replace or become an alternative to fiat money, and bitcoin in our time is just an investment tool, which also does not cost anything in itself. That is, the absolute majority of participants in the cryptocurrency market use bitcoin not because it is a convenient means of payment, and very few people use it as a means of payment, but because with its volatility, the price changes very quickly.
The expression regarding the decentralization of the cryptocurrency is also quite controversial, since most of the miners (so far) are located in China and, as we can see, power outages in just one region can lead to a collapse of the hash rate and the price of the cryptocurrency. Well, it is probably not worth talking about disobedience by central banks and governments now, since China can ban mining and bitcoin turnover through financial organizations, and the United States can tighten taxation of cryptocurrency transactions. Thus, it cannot be said that bitcoin does not depend on the Central Bank or governments.
I am glad that not everyone in this world is ready to rush headlong into any new technology, just to earn a couple of million on it. The largest British bank, HSBC, does not plan to launch any special departments for cryptocurrencies or offer its clients investment instruments based on cryptocurrencies. This was stated by the bank's CEO Noel Quinn. According to him, bitcoin is too volatile and is not an asset. "So," Quinn says – " if our customers want to trade it, they will, of course, but we are not promoting cryptocurrencies or imposing them on our customers in any way." Earlier, several of the world's largest banks announced the creation of financial instruments and other various services and investment instruments based on cryptocurrencies. Payment systems like Visa or PayPal have also joined this trend. Everyone wants to keep up with the times.
