We hate to say that we told you so, but we have been predicting that 2020 would be a big year for Bitcoin – and the world’s best-known cryptocurrency has gone some way to proving us right.
After dropping to levels at around $3000 USD at the peak of the coronavirus market crash, Bitcoin emerged to an all-time high value this week, and is, at the time of writing, worth over $22,000.
The boost in value now moves the cryptocurrency’s total market capitalisation to nearly $320billion – just a fraction shy of its all-time record of $335bn, and the value continues to rise.
While cryptocurrency was not immune to the all-encompassing financial disaster caused by a global pandemic, it has, thanks to a number of contributing factors, rebounded spectacularly well – with more and more previously sceptical investors beginning to come around to the benefits of the blockchain.
From the most recent ‘halving’ – a four-yearly event which halves the levels of new currency injected into circulation – in May of this year, to the development of better casual investing technology like the Bitcoin Future website, it’s been a banner year for Bitcoin – and, according to one report, cryptocurrency may have finally crossed into the mainstream as an investment vehicle.
A recent global poll, published last month, has revealed that nearly three-quarters of high-net-worth individuals have plans to invest in cryptocurrencies before the end of 2022.
The survey, carried out by deVere Group, a world-leading independent financial advisory organisation, found that 73% of poll participants already hold, or are planning to hold, digital currencies, in the next two years.
The survey claims to have had over 700 responses from ‘high-net-worth’ individuals – classified, in this case, as people with more than £1m, or equivalent, in assets, reaching all four corners of the globe.
deVere Group CEO Nigel Green, who spearheaded the company’s cryptocurrency exchange service launch in 2018, said: “The price of Bitcoin is up 125% year-to-date, making it once again one of the best-performing assets of the year.
“As the survey shows, this impressive performance is drawing the attention of wealthy investors who increasingly understand that digital currencies are the future of money and they don’t want to be left in the past.”
The survey results show a 5% increase in cryptocurrency investment interest year-on-year, with deVere’s 2019 survey showing a result of 68%.
Green continued: “No doubt that many of these high-net-worth individuals who were polled have seen that a major driver of the price surge is the growing interest being expressed by institutional investors who are capitalising on the high returns that the digital asset class is currently offering.
“They – including some of the biggest Wall Street banks amongst others – are now aware that the world’s biggest and most influential decentralised currency isn’t going anywhere.
Green believes that the increase in interest from established investors and financiers can only spell more success for cryptocurrency in the long-term – and that view is reinforced by the recent decision of PayPal to validate Bitcoin on their platform.
Bitcoin has, in many ways, proven to be the most versatile solution to the financial problems that have plagued 2020 – with quantitative easing seeing traditional fiat currencies subject to inflationary problems.
Green said “[Bitcoin is a] legitimate hedge against longer-term inflation concerns which have come to the fore due to stimulus packages. These emergency measures, like the massive money-printing agenda, reduce the value of traditional currencies like the dollar.
“Other inherent characteristics of cryptocurrencies are piquing interest too. These include that they’re borderless, making them perfectly suited to an ever globalised world of commerce, trade, and people; that they are digital, making them perfectly suited for the increasing digitalization of our world; and that demographics are on the side of cryptocurrencies as younger people are more likely to embrace them than older generations.”
“High net worth individuals are not prepared to miss out on the future of money and are rebalancing their portfolios towards these digital assets.”
