Regular people who had the courage to speculate were instantly transformed into millionaires, with access to all the wealth they could ever have dreamed of. These success stories were well documented in the media, and others were kicking themselves that they hadn’t jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon in the early days. But it might not be too late for other investors to make money from the cryptocurrency market. Indeed, with the e-currency now back down to a market value of around $7000, it could be the perfect time to invest.

The time has definitely passed for people to invest a small amount of money in bitcoin and become millionaires a few years later. The digital currency created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto is too well-known and has already broken into various industries as an accepted payment method. However, there is a chance that the value of bitcoin could spike again in the near future, and those who buy when it is at its current value could stand to turn a profit.

One of the best options right now may be to trade your bitcoin for other cryptocurrency assets. Because this is such a big industry today, there are actually apps that can assist you. This means you don’t have to follow the markets yourself. Bitcoin Loophole is a great example of one such service - a bitcoin bot developed by bitcoin investor Steve McKay, which is designed to allow manual and automated trading. It is easy to sign up to and has been lauded for its user-friendly features. For newcomers who don’t know much about bitcoin trading, this could be a good option to get in on the ground level.

How to Bag Bitcoin

Getting hold of bitcoin is quick and easy, and there are various websites that can help you access the cryptocurrency in exchange for your own. All you have to do is go through a few security questions in order to set up an account.

Once you have some bitcoin, you could choose to hold it or play the exchange markets in an attempt to turn a profit. If you want to sit on your investment, it is wise to store it in a hard wallet which can be removed from the computer and put in a safe location. This way, your assets won’t be vulnerable to cybercriminals. With this method, you have to hope that bitcoin will rise considerably in value again so you can cash in at a later date.

With bitcoin having reached highs of $20,000 in the past, there is no reason why it can’t push back to those levels at some point. Indeed, if the cryptocurrency can gain traction and break into the mainstream, the price could rise much further. Now could be the ideal time to invest in bitcoin and to start trading.

To answer these questions and to put a perspective around various drivers responsible for encouraging more women to join the fast-growing blockchain industry, we caught up with Marie Tatibouet, CMO at Gate.io. Marie is also a blockchain influencer and a thought leader in the space.

1. How did you develop an interest in blockchain technology? Can you tell us about your background?

I majored in finance and marketing, and since then I have loved how the two subjects drive change in today’s world. After completing my education, I worked with the consumer technology space. Later, I founded a marketing consultancy that helped tech companies with their marketing strategies. It wasn’t until 2016 that I fell down the wonderful rabbit hole that is blockchain technology and subsequently returned to the finance world. It was 2016, and I joined an online platform called 21, mostly using it for fun and I then started researching how to withdraw the BTC a few months later and found myself hooked to the idea. Two years later, I was offered this exciting role at Gate Technology, where I love how I engage with the larger community to spread the word about Gate.io.

2. What do you think women in the industry have achieved and what do they want to achieve in the future?

We are seeing an increased number of women emerging as blockchain influencers. Some like Neha Nerula are putting their technical skills to work and others like Angie Lau and Molly Jane Zuckerman are asking the right questions to ensure that we understand both sides of the (crypto) coin. However, industry calls for more women to take up leadership roles, reducing the gender gap and encouraging diversity. Apart from seeing a greater number of women in the industry, I would like us to create a space where women feel appreciated not just for their technical skills but also for their ability to use design thinking in various applications of blockchain technology.

3. Why is the blockchain technology space so male dominated?

The roots of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, tech and finance are still struggling to become gender balanced. This trend kept women at the back foot when blockchain technology was introduced a decade ago. It is undeniable that every technological application needs diversity to scale and succeed. Women are also more risk-averse than men, which keeps them from entering the industry. However, as the sector becomes more mainstream, we need to take more steps to eliminate these barriers to improve gender diversity. However, we are seeing more women coming into space because their contribution to the finance industry is something the sector cannot ignore.

4. Why are women key for innovation in blockchain technology space?

Women bring unique experiences and expertise to the table. Research has shown that women have an inherited quality to keep going back to the fundamentals, which is a better approach to learning, and an incredible quality to foster innovation. I firmly believe that blockchain technology’s mass adoption is almost impossible to achieve unless all diverse minds put their thoughts and experiences together. They are also great community builders, something that the crypto industry thrives on. All these qualities can help businesses and communities understand the intricacies of various applications so that solutions can be tailored accordingly.

5. How is Gate.io contributing in this realm?

Gate Technology is headed in the right direction when it comes to striking the right gender balance in an organization. Forty percent of our workforce are women, holding important positions across horizontals like product development, marketing, communications, and technology. A gender diverse team is key to being inclusivity to business solutions, especially while designing and creating strategies around user experience, marketing, etc.

The research claims that Bitcoin's dramatic price surge in 2017 that saw it reach record highs was caused by a single cryptocurrency trader.

Daniele Mensi, CEO of Nexthash Group, commented on the research: "Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have inherent volatility which means they are ideal for traders and investors who want to trade quickly and transparently through blockchain-enabled platforms. Despite the peaks and troughs of Bitcoin, the value has gradually increased over the last few years and is expected to keep rising as it is more intensively mined up to the limit of the currency. 

Because each transaction is logged and public, there is more transparency than traditional transactions, so traders should not be worried by studies like this, but should look at the market on a macro level rather than a short period in isolation. Of course, it depends on the type of investment people are looking to make, but on the whole, the blockchain technology that underpins cryptocurrencies is the tool that allows for greater transparency to everyone and in principle, shouldn't favour one group of investors over another." 

The prediction from Nigel Green, the chief executive of deVere Group, comes after the world’s largest cryptocurrency experienced a 20 per cent price surge over the weekend.

Mr Green commented: “Bitcoin has registered some impressive gains over the last 48 hours after being in a lull period in recent weeks.

“As of now, it has defied the so-called Death Cross – a bearish pattern that takes place when the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day moving average.

“The $8,500 support has previously acted as a crucial support for Bitcoin. I believe that if Bitcoin bulls can keep the price above this over the next week, the world’s dominant cryptocurrency will experience a breakout and will hit $12,000 before the end of the year.”

He continued: “This latest surge in Bitcoin was triggered by China’s President Xi calling the adoption of blockchain – the technology on which cryptocurrencies run - an important breakthrough for independent innovation of core technologies.

“This is a clear signal that the leader of the world’s second-largest economy is moving towards embracing the technology – in which Bitcoin plays a vital part – and therefore taken as a positive boost for the whole digital currencies sector.  

“Perhaps quite sensibly, investors could not ignore the comments and sentiment expressed by President Xi and reacted by increasing exposure to Bitcoin.

“It also comes as China is said to be developing its own national digital currency, which is further proof that in some form or another, digital currency is the future.”

He added: “As history teaches us, it’s likely that momentum, perhaps partly driven by FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out), will now pick-up pace again in the cryptocurrency sector.  Should this be maintained this week, I’m confident it will take Bitcoin to $12,000 before the start of 2020.

“The crypto momentum will also be driven by underlying fundamentals that will come back into focus.

“These include geopolitical issues - such as the U.S.-China trade war and the chaos of Brexit - and the global economic slowdown. These are encouraging exposure to decentralised, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies.

“Also, the technical network improvements that have further enhanced the performance of cryptocurrencies, as well as the forthcoming 2020 Bitcoin halving will also fuel price gains.”

The code for mining Bitcoin halves around every four years and the next one is set for May 2020. When the code halves, miners receive 50 per cent fewer coins every few minutes.  History shows that there is typically a considerable Bitcoin surge resulting from halving events.

“But perhaps the most important one is that public awareness is consistently growing. Cryptocurrencies, and in particular Bitcoin, are increasingly part of mainstream finance.

“This is evidenced not only in the financial sector, in which all major banks are increasingly looking at blockchain and crypto, but by the growing interest of governments and institutions, plus the major players within the tech and retail sectors too.”

Nigel Green concluded: “$8,500 is a key support for Bitcoin.  Should the Bitcoin price stay above this level, positive sentiment will be amplified, and we would see near year-highs.”

Cryptocurrencies followers forecast Bitcoin to replace fiat currency and become the only method of value exchange. With bitcoin induced demonetization, Bitcoin should change people’s relationship with money. The fact that people will be the owner of their money and its value is seen as one of the distinctions that will make most people avoid fiat currencies.

Bitcoin prices have become a bellwether for the market. While still difficult to nail down an exact characterization of cryptocurrency and how it fits within the modern financial pattern — whether a currency, digital asset or a commodity — by evaluating the price action in the context of its more established analogs, it becomes apparent that Bitcoin and its peers have reached significant milestones.

Apps Affiliated with Bitcoin Trading Performance

The acuteness of the cryptocurrency market has made it obligatory for traders to make quicker decisions and perform transactions faster. These demands led to the development of the Bitcoin apps to offer traders an automated trading platform and more leverage in the market.

The Bitcoin apps enhanced a unique algorithm that can interpret and process the market signals faster such as the bitcoin revolution. If the bitcoin revolution is over then the users are forced to invest from the beginning, without trying the platform first.

Cryptocurrency Crash

The price of Bitcoin has fallen from $13,200 to $9,684, with major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, recording a 26.6% drop within a period of seven days. The recent fall of Bitcoin is widely believed to be a technical factor that was pushed by sellers who took control of the market once the dominant crypto asset went below key support levels at $11,500 and $10,500.

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Bitcoin Price Faces Third Monthly Loss of 2019

• Bitcoin is on track to test $9,000, having dived out of a narrowing price range earlier this week. The cryptocurrency is likely to end August on a negative note, having suffered losses in July and January.
• BTC may suffer a deeper price drop over the next few months, possibly to the 200-day moving average near $7,400, if prices print a UTC close below $9,049 on Saturday, confirming a bearish reversal on the monthly chart.
• A minor price bounce, possibly to the Aug. 22 low of $9,755, could be seen before a drop to $9,000, as an hourly chart indicator is reporting bullish conditions.
• The short-term bearish case would be invalidated if prices find acceptance above $ 10,280, although that looks unlikely. A weekly close above $12,000 for bullish revival, as discussed earlier this month.

Why Did Bitcoin Drop 20% in October? 

The recent rise was not a rise at all but in fact a fall. in other words, the value of Tether (controversial cryptocurrency with tokens) dropped so in order for altcoins to keep their value up they needed to rise against Tether, when bitcoin rises (assuming Tether is worth $1) altcoins seemingly rise up but not because they keep their value, in fact, they fall in value against USD and BTC but because this fall is not equal to bitcoin price rise, the final result is a rise.

For example, if bitcoin is $1000 and some altcoin is worth 0.1BTC and then bitcoin goes up to $2000 that altcoin if it remains 0.1BTC, will rise to $200 which is impossible for that coin to happen because there is nobody buying it.

What happens is that the rise of bitcoin from $1000 to $1000+ will start creating arbitrage opportunity in ALT/BTC and ALT/USD and as traders arbitrage this the final value of that coin will go somewhere between $100 and $200 and closer to lower bound. So the final result will be an altcoin worth around 0.06BTC which is a big fall but thanks to arbitrage traders the value of it rose a little to $120 in a fake manner.

The price per coin has so far been strong this year as traders and investors cheered the likes of Facebook and Apple showing interest in bitcoin, cryptocurrency and bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology. This weekend's drop was attributed to a lacklustre debut for the highly-anticipated Bakkt bitcoin and its cryptocurrency investment platform at the beginning of the week.

According to Forbes, the drop has caused panic among traders and investors who have been anticipated a drastic change for some months now. For the time being bullish Bitcoin traders are advising to buy as the markets look confused as ever, and there will be some results on the horizon. In addition, chief investment officer of Morgan Creek Capital, a US bitcoin and cryptocurrency investment company, suggests "buying the dip," clarifying that daily change sin the value of Bitcoin are rarely significant and should be ignored.

Daniele Mensi, CEO of Nexthash, the operating group of digital exchange platform Nexinter, commented on the price drop: "The volatility of cryptocurrencies is what makes them excellent conduits of growth for traders, investors, and growing businesses. What is important to remember is that Bitcoin is still up around 115% this year, so its short terms peaks and troughs are necessary to facilitate longer-term growth across the currency. It is important for new traders and investors to do their due diligence on each currency that they invest into to ensure that it is the right route for them, but institutional investors and high-growth companies will continue to look crypto and digital trading to facilitate international, fluid growth." 

Cryptocurrency is any currency which can be referred to as digital money and is taken online in the form of coins and/or tokens. However, just as so many cryptocurrencies have debuted in the physical world like credit cards, a large proportion of them continues to remain intangible. The term “crypto”, which is widely used in cryptocurrency, refers to the archaic procedure through which the tough cryptography allows for the token to be processed, stored and transacted online.

There are numerous cryptocurrencies being used globally. In this article we will guide you through top 5 cryptocurrencies you must know:

1. Litecoin 

This currency debuted after bitcoin and was launched in 2011. It is commonly referred to as silver to bitcoin’s gold. It was introduced by Charlie Lee, former Google engineer. It is not controlled by any central authority and only uses the script as a proof of work. It offers faster transaction generation and is very similar to bitcoin in its properties. An interesting point to note here is that the number of merchants who accept lite coin online is growing as compared to the makers of the currency.

2. Bitcoin

Also described as one of the most famous cryptocurrencies in the world, bitcoin has been able to carve a good reputation for itself ever since it was introduced. This type of money is completely virtual, and even small retailers accept payment in bitcoin on their websites. It’s an online version of cash and is used to buy products and services online. However, many companies observe a complete ban on bitcoin because there is no central authority which controls it. After bitcoin revolution, many people started to invest in this currency, but due to its fluctuating value, many people have stopped investing heavily.

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3. Ethereum

This cryptocurrency is a safer option when it comes to enabling smart contracts and distributed applications to be erected without any downtime. It was introduced in 2015 and is a decentralized platform. Ether, which is a cryptographic token is responsible for running applications. People who are willing to develop software on the Ethereum platform use it as a moving vehicle which allows all these things to happen. In 2014, Ethereum launched a pre-sale of ether which turned out to be great success.

4. Ripple

It offers low-cost international payments and is a global settlement network which is fast and very precise. Banks can make the best possible use of it for it allows transactions to be conducted at low cost. It was introduced in 2012, and the uniqueness of this currency is it doesn’t require mining. This is its only quality which differentiates it from other cryptocurrencies online. Since mining is not present here, ripple uses less computing power and saves a lot of time.

5. Dash

Originally known as dark coin, it is a more discreet version of the bitcoin itself. The intriguing point to note about dash is its ability to conduct transactions in a way that nothing can be traced back. Dash was launched in 2014 and has gathered a significant fan following since then. Evan Duffield was the responsible brain behind making this currency, and this digital money can be mined with GPU and CPU. It was only after 2014 that this currency was redefined from dark coin to dash.

These are just some of the digital currencies which are famous globally. The rest of them are also in use and continue to enjoy huge popularity worldwide.

The analysis from the CEO of the deVere Group comes as investors piled into the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies this week amid growing trade tensions between the US and China. 

The Chinese renminbi fell to under 7 to the US dollar on Monday – the lowest in more than a decade – igniting drops in stocks and emerging market currencies and driving a rally in government bonds.

Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, notes: “The world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, jumped 10% as global stocks were rocked by the devaluation of China’s yuan as the trade war with the US intensifies.

“This is not a coincidence. It reveals that consensus is growing that Bitcoin is becoming a flight-to-safety asset during times of market uncertainty. 

“Bitcoin is currently realising its reputation as a form of digital gold. Up to now, gold has been known as the ultimate safe-haven asset, but Bitcoin  - which shares its key characteristics of being a store of value and scarcity – could potentially dethrone gold in the future as the world becomes increasingly digitalised.”

He continues: “With the Trump administration now officially labelling China a currency manipulator, escalating the tensions between the world’s two largest currencies economies, investors are set to continue to pile in to decentralized, non-sovereign, secure currencies, such as Bitcoin to protect them from the turmoil taking place in traditional markets.

“The legitimate risks posed by the continuing trade dispute, China’s currency devaluation and other geopolitical issues, such as Brexit and its far-reaching associated challenges, will lead an increasing number of institutional and retail investors to diversify their portfolios and hedge against those risks by investing in crypto assets.

“This will drive the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies higher.  Under the current circumstances, I believe the Bitcoin price could hit $15,000 within weeks.”

The deVere CEO concludes: “Cryptocurrencies are now almost universally regarded as the future of money – but what has become clear this week is that they are increasingly regarded a safe haven in the present.”

By now, cryptocurrencies acquired an army of investors and true believers. It is worthy of note that regardless of the market conditions, the top 3 cryptocurrencies remain the unchangeable leaders. What makes Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP so valuable?

Bitcoin

Created in 2009, Bitcoin is the first peer-to-peer digital currency, which the world has ever seen. Being a father of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has the first-mover advantage, it can’t lose. Regardless of 2,000 altcoins available on the market, investors do not stop to purchase Bitcoin, keeping it at the top of the list.

Why Bitcoin is so much-in-demand?

• Low supply. There are only 21 million bitcoins that will ever exist in total, and 17,8 million have already been mined. Due to the human factor, people lose access to the crypto wallets reducing the amount of bitcoin in circulation. About 4 million coins are more likely to be lost forever. Demand will increase to own at least a fraction of bitcoin pushing the value up and the maximum supply will more likely decrease.
• High usability and industry standard. Bitcoin is available and commercially adopted pretty much everywhere in the world. Bitcoin ATMs, retailers, and various businesses accepting bitcoin as a payment amount more than 15 thousand venues as of today that is 1,000% rise in comparison with 1,270 venues in December 2013. By industry standard, it is entailed the fact that any crypto-related project, app, or business will first start working with/accepting bitcoin and only then add other altcoins.
• Ability to profit on the hot investment. Let’s keep it real, cryptocurrencies are volatile and by buying/selling them at the right moment investors can capitalize greatly on it. Why bitcoin? With the dominance of 66.2%, Bitcoin is a settler of crypto market direction. So why bet on altcoins if Bitcoin is 100% win.

Ethereum

Ethereum’s road was rough throughout 2018 having lost 85% of its value. Despite this fact and despite the competition from other smart-contract based altcoins like NEO and EOS, Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency.

• Father of smart contracts. Ethereum is a major blockchain for smart contracts, DApps, and more than 80% of ICOs developed on its blockchain. Enterprise Ethereum Alliance has made partnerships with big-name companies like Microsoft, JP Morgan, Intel, and others, which are looking for Ethereum blockchain incorporation into their business structures. With such strong support, it’s unlikely for Ethereum to lose its leading position in a short-term horizon.
• Key updates of Ethereum technology. One of the most significant Ethereum hard forks called Constantinople has already happened in February 2019 though with a delay improved functionality, speed, transaction costs, miner issues of the network. According to its roadmap, instead of one large update, there will be a series of updates aiming to make Ethereum more scalable, efficient, and faster scheduled for 2019 and the years to come.

XRP

XRP rounds out the top 3 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. XRP is one of the cheapest and fastest coins available today. Despite accusations from cryptocurrency enthusiast concerning its centralized character, XRP entrenches oneself in the top and has never claimed to be decentralized one.

Why is XRP at the forefront?

1,500 transactions per second is an impressive result, especially in comparison with the scalability of other cryptocurrencies or even with common money transfer systems, used by the banks. Upon that the cost of the instant transaction regardless of destination point is over 50% cut down. Initially, Ripple was focused on financial institutions and banks with prospects to become the major payment system. Therefore, not cryptocurrencies, but dominated transfer systems like SWIFT and VISA are its main rivals. Working on the improving transaction speed, the XRP development team reached the unparalleled scalability of 50,000 transactions per second outperforming VISA capacity twofold.

Multiple banks and credit card companies are already collaborating with Ripple, hundreds of other bank institutions are looking for a partnership with it. Backed by the financial sector and constant increase of the user number, XRP will strengthen the position in the crypto market.

This week Finance Monthly hears from Simon Rodway, a solutions architect at Entersekt, on the potential and realistic impacts of Libra on the traditional banking system.

The social media giant Facebook announced in June that it has developed a cryptocurrency dubbed Libra and plans to launch it early next year. While some may dismiss it as just more hype, the sheer dominance of Facebook in people’s social lives gives it huge potential to disrupt banking and payments as we know it today.

The company claims that Libra will improve the way we send money online, making it faster and cheaper, as well as improving access to financial services – even for those without bank accounts or limited access to traditional banking. It will be based on a blockchain platform called the Libra Network and Facebook says that it will run faster than other cryptocurrencies, making it ideal for purchasing and sending money quickly. Importantly, Libra will not be managed by Facebook itself; rather, by the Libra Association – a not-for-profit organisation comprised of 28 companies (so far) from around the world such as Paypal, Lyft and Coinbase. It aims to sign up 100 companies by the time the cryptocurrency is launched.

One thing’s for sure: it’s going to be an interesting development to watch, especially in the wake of Facebook’s cryptocurrency wallet company Calibra’s David Marcus presenting his testimony to the United States Congress banking committee. The result was that Facebook would “take time to get this right” and there would be no launch until all concerns could be fully addressed.

So, even though it’s still early days, Libra has given us a lot to think about. Ill-informed speculation and click bait aside, there are legitimate concerns around fraud – with reports already of over one hundred fake domains being set up relating to Libra. There are also the money laundering and financial risk concerns.

In terms of the impact and financial risk, most of what we’re hearing is coming from within the more established financial sectors. They’re either dismissing Libra as noise or decrying it as a vehicle for potential terrorist activities – something, they say, that regulators won’t allow to happen, despite Calibra openly reporting its intention to work with said regulators and policymakers to ensure the platform is secure, auditable and resilient.

At the same time, of course, they’re defending the current system, claiming that it works well, is safe and secure, and doesn’t support terrorism. But, if we’re honest, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) systems have, to date, been largely unable to stop the vast amounts of laundered funds from moving around. In addition, our Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) processes use data from the likes of Companies House, which has been heavily criticised for their own lack of data validation and governance.

All that aside, what’s become quite clear is that the existing system presents too many blockers for the poorer, under-banked members of our society. Those working in the UK, for example, and legitimately wanting to transfer their wages to their families in other countries, end up paying exorbitant banking fees, only to wait days for their funds to clear.

This is where Libra, with its vision for financial inclusion, could make a difference. And if Libra doesn’t make it happen this time around, the technology and conceptual design are essentially open source, so someone else will. The wheels are in motion, and financial institutions that ignore the trend do so at their peril.

Brexit and its surrounding political upheaval is of course much to blame. Here Ana Bencic, Founder & CEO of Nexthash, delves into the potential benefits cryptocurrencies could offer in situations like this.

Figures taken on Tuesday 6 August show the pound trading for $1.2176 and €1.1199 respectively. The Brexit-related insecurity has been attributed listed as one of the factors behind the decline in the value of the pound, made worse by weak retail sales in June.

With the decline in the national currency and with Brexit on the horizon, questions are swirling around, about how the UK can maintain its attractiveness to foreign and domestic investors.

Investors who have been taking notice of the unpredictable nature of fiat currency’s’ value in relation to political events, as well as the near-constant rise in the value of several cryptocurrencies, will be looking at what makes cryptocurrency a viable alternative to traditional currency.

With more uncertainty than ever in the market, including the inability to hold above 1.27, the pound, it is clear that the value of pound sterling is predicated on political factors. In stark contrast, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum appear to be unaffected by political upheaval. The value of Bitcoin has reached peaks of over $9000 and despite price drops, it appears to be gradually increasing in value over time. Investors who are wary of traditional currencies will be attracted to the fact that cryptocurrencies are not created by, or under the direct control of any financial institutions or third-party entities. Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies are decentralized and they use peer-to-peer technology to enable all functions such as currency issuance, transaction processing and verification to be carried out collectively by the network. While this decentralization renders cryptocurrencies free from manipulation or interference by a government or central bank, the flipside is that there is no central authority to ensure that things run smoothly or to back the value of a particular currency.

Additionally, Bitcoin effectively increases efficiencies, adds security to transactions and eliminates traditional methods of fraud. Some economic analysts predict a big change in crypto is forthcoming as institutional money enters the market. Moreover, there is the possibility that crypto will be floated on the Nasdaq, which would further add credibility to blockchain and its uses as an alternative to conventional currencies. Some predict that all that crypto needs is a verified exchange traded fund (ETF). An ETF would make it easier for people to invest in Bitcoin, but there still needs to be the demand to want to invest in crypto, which some say may not automatically be generated with a fund.

Cryptocurrencies are yet to reach their full potential, but this will come with time as traditional investors & traders start to use it more often and several major first-world nations pass legislation in support of cryptocurrency trade and investment. At this point, the crypto market is estimated to be worth $700 billion and the perception is that digital currencies are here for good.

Cryptocurrencies are yet to reach their full potential, but this will come with time as traditional investors & traders start to use it more often and several major first-world nations pass legislation in support of cryptocurrency trade and investment.

Countries with underdeveloped infrastructure and nations experiencing devaluation of their national currency can seize the advantages of cryptocurrencies- for the simple reason they can move money across their country’s borders with far greater ease than traditional currency.

Traders make use of cryptocurrencies as a peer-to-peer payment method, allowing them to send money in much less time than a bank transfer would take and with relatively low transfer fees when transferring funds internationally.

Blockchain based currencies will continue growing in popularity with traders and investors for their unique advantages of confidentiality, immutability, fast transaction times and a lack of external mediators.

Neither the launch of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency nor the rapid appreciation of Bitcoin - which has more than quadrupled in value in 2019 - has so far reversed the trend.

Just two years ago, jobseekers’ interest in Blockchain - the technology which underpins cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Libra - surged. In 2017 Indeed recorded a tenfold increase in the number of candidates searching for Blockchain jobs, coinciding with a 2,100% spike in the value of Bitcoin, which peaked at $20,000 in December that year. 

Candidates’ interest in jobs mentioning ‘Blockchain’, ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘Cryptocurrencies’ surged in the first half of 2018, before tailing off sharply in the latter part of the year. Searches for these jobs have fallen further in 2019, with the monthly average this year sliding by 44% on its 2018 level. 

The number of cryptocurrency job postings has also collapsed in 2019, with the June figure down 72% on the record high recorded in March 2018.

Interest in Blockchain, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies plummets.

The falling interest coincides with extreme volatility in the value of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin prices fell by nearly 80% in 2018, and though the best known cryptocurrency has rebounded in 2019 - surging past $13,000 at the end of last month - jobseeker interest in the crypto sector has not yet matched that resurgence. 

However, Facebook’s entry into the cryptocurrency market could inject new credibility and mainstream acceptance of the technology, and Indeed’s data reveals that a string of well-known tech and financial services firms continue to advertise Blockchain jobs.

The global banking giant JPMorgan Chase, one of the top 10 companies posting cryptocurrency jobs on Indeed, created the first US bank-backed cryptocurrency last year when it launched JPM Coin. Meanwhile, earlier this year, tech firm IBM created a global payments network to support transactions involving foreign currencies and cryptocurrencies.

Bill Richards, UK Managing Director at global job site Indeed, commented: “The mercurial rise - and then fall - in the value of Bitcoin sparked headlines and jobseeker responses in roughly equal measure.

“But while the rapid rise in value of Bitcoin so far this year has attracted investors, jobseekers have been more wary. 

“Behind the froth of Bitcoin, the true potential of Blockchain is still being revealed, and it’s striking how many companies, including tech and banking heavyweights, are building teams of people with skills in this area.

“Facebook’s launch of Libra is set to extend the reach and acceptance of cryptocurrencies and could power a second boom in Blockchain jobs, but so far this is anything but a foregone conclusion.” 

(Source: Indeed)