2017 Second Half Outlook of Cryptocurrency

So far, 2017 has been a very good year for all major cryptocurrencies. Speculators and people looking to make quick profits have dominated the markets. However, a large part of the value increase is coming from Bitcoin trading in Asia.

While bitcoin trading has been going on for years in China, Japan is becoming more and more Bitcoin friendly and following a massive hack in a top exchange, South Korea is preparing bills and regulation to give cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, legal grounds in the country.

In Japan, an efficient ecosystem is being created by the government. The Japanese government has officially recognized Bitcoin as a legal payment method and currency. A consumption tax on the sale of bitcoins was eliminated. And this week, retailers began their roll out of point of sale software in over 260,000 stores. Several other countries are slowly warming up to Bitcoin as a legitimate alternative currency.

Then again, forces may come into play to keep the price surge in check and possibly even knock off billions of dollars out of the speculative crypto markets. Bitcoin could see a chain split in a few weeks. Ethereum has scaling issues to address. Junk alt coins are being floated every now and then and uncapped ICOs are being offered without any real live products to back the offerings potentially leading to erosion of investor confidence.

The second half looks promising. Ethereum could overtake Bitcoin. Or Bitcoin price could surge to new highs. XRP may show new developments. Dash Evolution will be launched. Litecoin may continue its meteoric rise. And if prices do take a significant dip, new investors may jump in which is just overall good news for the crypto markets.

Below is a latest snapshot of the major crypto coins - Saturday July 8, 6:38am London Time

What is your cryptocurrency prediction for the next 6 months of 2017?