03 Jan 2020 Anthony Lehrman
Bitcoin Makes A "Geopolitical" Rebound After The U.S. Attacks Baghdad
Bitcoin enthusiasts and experts agree that the following decade may go under the sign of cryptocurrencies. Despite the hype, the crypto market still sees bearish influence, as the total market capitalization settled well below $200 billion over the past month.
Bitcoin, the world's number one cryptocurrency, remained on its downward course over the past six months, falling below the psychological barrier of $7,000. Bitcoin recorded its first yearly low at $6,919.03. Just a few hours later, bitcoin spiked 4% to trade at $7,336.42 as of press time.
Factors outside the crypto sector may have caused Bitcoin's rapid upward swing. U.S President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike attack of Baghdad's airport. The target - general Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force. The news about general Qasem Soleimani being killed by the U.S. forces quickly reflected on global oil prices, which increased with around 3%.
Crypto experts linked Bitcoin's price jump with the airstrike. Mathew Graham, CEO of Sino Global Capital, raised the question if Bitcoin is now reacting to "geopolitical risk," which is a sign of the crypto sector maturing.
Outside the price volatility, crypto traders and watchdogs forecast what the next decade will bring for the entire crypto sector. Tyler Winklevoss, a co-founder of the Gemini crypto exchange, claimed that "the next decade will be without a doubt the decade of cryptos."
Winklevoss's words, despite being bold, have a solid ground, as Bitcoin recorded a 90% increase in its price in 2019. Starting last year at around $3,800, Bitcoin ended 2019 at about $7,300, with a yearly high of $13,065.91. Compared to other sectors, Apple received an 80% push in 2019, while NASDAQ received a 30% increase.
George McDonaugh, the co-founder of KR1 crypto venture capital company, claimed a bullish stance for Bitcoin's price future. "Given the amount of new Bitcoin addresses, and the strong fundamentals underneath Bitcoin, it's price increase is imminent," McDonaugh added.
The crypto world is also expecting Facebook to release its long-awaited Libra stablecoin project, which caused regulatory havoc across the globe. If the project turns out to be successful, the entire sector will benefit from the stablecoin. Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey plans to bring Bitcoin in Africa, with an estimated reach of over 1,2 billion people via his Square payment company. Coinbase is also working on enhancing the user experience with cryptocurrencies. The San Francisco-based crypto exchange secured a patent for sending and receiving Bitcoin via mail. The patent was granted last month, despite being filed in March 2015. Coinbase's CEO Brian Armstrong explained that this way, Bitcoin should receive the much-needed push into mass adoption.
On the other hand, some financial experts still call Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies a "pyramid scheme". Tendayi Kapfidze, chief economist of Lending Tree, stated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies provide a solution for a non-existent problem, so the sector has no clear utility.
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