Bitcoin 2017/2018: The New Tulip Mania?

The scarcity of a commodity tends to be related by us humans to its value. Gold is universally believed for centuries if not millennia to be a stable store of value due to the effort it takes in mining it as well as the fact that it gets scarcer when it is mined, which is the reason for a “gold rush” whenever get discovery of it is made at any corner of the planet.

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Bitcoin is no stranger to this school of thought as its creator Satoshi Nakamoto has made sure that it would be in a severely limited supply which coupled with the wild speculation that surrounds it has pushed its value to proportions hat no one would have ever predicted possible.

2017 will forever remain fresh in the minds of Bitcoin owners as it is the year that the alpha cryptocurrency brought in the mother lode in its surge in value. Starting from barely a thousand dollars in January, Bitcoin went on to have a splendid year peaking at over $20,000 in the last ten days of the year before a relative price correction set in.

This huge surge in value has led to fears that this might just be another bubble mirroring the famous Tulip bulbs rush that bankrupted those who bought into it. One of those who championed such views is Jamie Dimon the JP Morgan CEO, who outrightly labeled Bitcoin as a fraud that was going to hurt a lot of people.

Despite such scathing attacks as well as news of potential regulations in the Far East however, Bitcoin continues to attract massive investment by people all over the world, who now view the currency as a stable and potential profitable alternate store of value to the US dollar, also being labeled the digital gold of the 21st century.

Bitcoin has defied a lot of naysayers in the past, and it would seem that the currency has gained an unassailable lead on any potential crackdown or competitors within the crypto industry. Even harsh critics like Dimon seem to take a few step backs, as he recently admitted that he regretted making those fraud claims. Experts says, Bitcoin’s behavior or value still remains undetermined, and until such a day when we are entirely sure of what it is all about and what it is capable of, Bitcoin’s ultimate destiny will continue to remain an object of speculation evoking strong opinions from both sides of the divide.