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Bitcoin is on the rise again, but maybe this time it’s actually different

Bitcoin prices are way up again, but will it hold this time?

Bitcoin cryptocurrency on table
Image: Unsplash

It doesn’t feel like it, but it’s been about three years since Bitcoin saw its last monumental rise, almost breaching $20,000 a coin. Fueled by Chinese investors and random people buying into something they didn’t really understand, the price rose at a very quick pace.

The momentum couldn’t hold, however. People stopped investing and many people didn’t know what to do with the cryptocurrency, past just buying and selling it, leading to it absolutely plummeting. In the years since, the price has slowly been on the rise again and now Bitcoin prices are around $19,000.

While many people still think cryptocurrency is a joke or just a scam being pushed by a select number of people and groups that have large investments in the sphere, others see this rise of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital currencies as a sign that acceptance is growing and treating it as more of an investment than a quick flip.

Philip Gradwell, the chief economist at Chainalysis, tells The New York Times, “It’s a very different set of people who are buying Bitcoin recently. They are doing it in steadier amounts over sustained periods of time, and they are taking it off exchanges and holding it as an investment.”

There are other signals that cryptos are been taken more seriously as well. For example, PayPal now allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Are these various things signs that Bitcoin is hitting a new normal and that these new prices will maintain? Only time will tell, but one thing that will help mainstream adoption is ease-of-use, like that of PayPal. Many crypto options can seem overwhelming, requiring specialized crypto wallets and using exchanges that aren’t always friendly.

Also promising, more institutions are looking at cryptos and blockchain (the tech that powers crypto trading) and how they can benefit from them. Banks are even getting involved, with People’s Bank of China and the Bank of England looking at how they can add blockchain tech into their workflow for distributing funds.

What do you think? Are you interested in cryptocurrency? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Former KnowTechie editor.

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