Bitcoin Is Not Dead, It's Just Sleeping

Incase you have not been paying attention lately, Bitcoin has been taking a nose dive in price today January 16th, 2018. Has the bubble finally burst that mainstream media have been decrying since Bitcoin first broke the $1000 mark? Not exactly.

Bitcoin has too much money invested into it for it to die, it also historically goes through periods like we are currently seeing albeit usually under different circumstances.

So, what is going on with Bitcoin?

From an all time high, to being stuck between $12-14k you might be forgiven for thinking Bitcoin has lost its appeal, the hype has run out and people just aren't interested anymore.

At the time of writing this the price for BTC/USDT on Binance was trading at $11,830 USD.

The reason is yet again China. Beijing rumouredly plans to block all domestic access to Chinese and offshore centralised cryptocurrency platforms.

Not content with their ban from 2017 on ICO's and Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges, they're ramping up their efforts in tackling the threat of cryptocurrency to their singular communist regime.

China accounts for a large volume of Bitcoin mining, this recent attack could spell the demise of many Chinese miners, although rumouredly many are moving offshore in anticipation of a crackdown.

Last week, a South Korean government minister suggested that the country ban trading in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Such suggestions were quickly clarified and revoked from the government, stating regulation is likely but a ban is unlikely. That didn't stop Bitcoin and other coins substantially dropping in value.

As they say in business, you know you've made it when the lawyers start knocking on the door with lawsuits. Bitcoin is currently at that stage where it has made it, but the lawyers are knocking on its door.

Bitcoin is being attacked

As the wise Mahatma Gandhi famously said:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

We are still currently knee-deep in the fighting stage. We only really just started shaking off the, "Bitcoin is not a real currency" proponents who refused to take Bitcoin seriously until it broke $10k.

Governments such as China are feeling legitimately threatened, what was once seen as digital Monopoly money has become serious and it's attracting all kinds of attention.

We are seeing Bitcoin being attacked, but unlike prior attacks and even though the price is dropping, it's not as bad as people might think. As previous attacks on Bitcoin have proven, it always bounces back and hits a new all time high every time.

It seems as though investors are slowly becoming better at not overreacting, although the current drop in value shows there are still a bunch of accidental millionaire kids who panic sell at the first sight of blood.

Regulation is inevitable, but not necessarily bad

The writing is on the wall, regulation is coming to cryptocurrency and honestly I think to an extent there needs to be some kind of regulation (which protects multiple interests). Once something is regulated, the chances of it being banned are pretty low.

I am okay with regulation, if it pertains to the KYC/money laundering aspect. Really most developed governments just want to make sure that Johnny Isis isn't laundering money for bags of fertiliser through Acme Exchange.

Regulation is better than a ban, even if regulation goes against the spirit of cryptocurrency and decentralisation, it's inevitable for as long as someone needs to buy into cryptocurrency using fiat.

Just hodl. For as long as you refuse to sell, you won't lose money. Your portfolio might be in the red, but remember your training because when Bitcoin bounces back it will be a vengeful return for the king of coins.

Smart investors are buying up bags of Bitcoin as we speak and if you're smart, you'll probably be doing the same. I am expecting when Bitcoin wakes back up, that we'll easily reach $30k or higher.