Ups and downs

Going from explaining what Bitcoins are to being meet with a “oh cool” to when I talk about my dissertation is at least a sign that my research filled the requirements of “relevant market value” that was specified on the dissertation mark scheme.

Researching this subject since 2012 the above candlestick chart shows how I would like to believe the market reacted to my dissertation submission. This of course is fictional as my exposure is no way the size that can move mountains like this. Bitcoin itself has remained the same all this time but the many stories in the media/ external environment have affected this upward trend in Bitcoin price.

Here are the my top three environmental situations for the recent rise in price.

1. A large grey/ black goods website called Silk Road was shut down which helped clean up the perception of Bitcoin uses (reported on 2 Oct 2013).

2. A US senate committee called Bitcoin a legitimate currency (18 Nov 2013).

3. China was silent on Bitcoin which drove speculators to trade assuming China to follow US’s footsteps.

The 4th Dec saw the value of Bitcoin starting on a downward trend, losing about 40% of its value in 3 days.

Here are the my top three environmental reasons for Bitcoin’s decline:

1. China said Bitcoin was not a currency (5 Dec 2013).

2. The successful 100 million USD heist/fraud story on Sheep Marketplace (2 Dec 2013). Reminding many people that they are actually not equipped with the knowledge or technology to protect their fortunes, especially those investors who are just following the crowd.

3. The quick rise in value means that Bitcoin investors are speculating that Bitcoin is a bubble or cautious of investing further due to its lack of precedence/ historical data.

Prices can fall but you can’t unlearn something. Bitcoin has come from obscurity to buzzword, the ideology has been revealed so there is little doubt that cryto-currency will survive. As stated in my dissertation (Introduction) Bitcoin can work as a proof-of-concept and fall as Napster or the first VoIP program did to bittorrent sites and Skype respectively. Whether Bitcoin does not give way to an easier, more secure, and government-backed alternative is a trend that we DO have records for.