By Devin Gianni
When Bitcoin was created over a decade ago, very few people expected it to completely flip the world financial system on its head. Yet, here we are today. The digital asset’s first ten years have set precedent in the cryptocurrency market with almost all the current cryptos fluctuating closely behind Bitcoin’s movements. After hitting a record high of $69,000 in November 2021, BTC fell by 24% to almost $48,000 as of March 2021 and is currently sitting at just $31,000. In just 6 months, the asset has lost 50% of its value after gaining hundreds of percentage points to hit its previous ATH in the months leading up. This is the current world of the ‘make or break’ cryptocurrency market. Be that as it may, financial backers and digital currency enthusiasts have undoubted resolve towards the future of Bitcoin and other digital assets. With this kind of faith and investment in the industry, the next decade could define Bitcoin and its digital counterparts as economic staples that will last for lifetimes to come.
Setting aside the massive price fluctuations, there are several aspects of Bitcoin’s technology that investors are carefully considering. Right now, digital currency is already being used as a store of value and a method for day-to-day monetary exchanges. Gone are the days when we wait a week for our money to arrive in our bank accounts. Crypto can complete remittances in seconds rather than days. Institutional investors are anxious to get in on the action and benefit from crypto use cases, despite its market volatility. On top of this, countries all over the planet, like Japan, England, and Canada have pronounced it a legitimate exchange of value.
Regardless, issues with scaling and security have kept a host of countries from adopting cryptos as a form of currency. “Arguably the greatest shortfalls for Bitcoin and other digital currencies over the earlier years lie with security,” said Chakib Bouda, CTO at Rambus — a leading financial firm. Bouda refers to the billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin and other digital assets that have been taken from trades by scammers. According to Bouda, only a safe Bitcoin environment will prompt market adoption. “We expect in 10 years, Bitcoin will become a standard and have an amazingly unique standing in the industry, if we are to secure it properly,” he said. As legislature guidelines advance to keep pace, almost certainly, the industry will expand. David Schwartz from Ripple Labs predicts that the following ten years will “bring a blast of cheap, high-impact changes that will change financial trade similarly to the Internet revolutionizing how we exchange information.”
Based on what’s happening today, the coming decade in the crypto space will change how the whole planet conducts business. Investing in Bitcoin and other currencies will be adopted more and more. Additional forms of institutional investing, like buying a Bitcoin ETF, is and will continue to be readily available. As time passes, personal portfolios will expand to cover an increasing number of digital assets. Goodbye fiat, hello crypto.
