Where's the Bitcoin heading?

Last year, about 10 months from now, I wrote my first piece about Bitcoin. At that time, December 2016, the price of Bitcoin was approaching $1,000, and I was questioning what one might expect.

As Bitcoin is becoming (and will continue doing that) more and more popular, it is still not a safe investment to make. Apart from that, one should definitely keep an eye on the cryptocurrency market since it might be the future,- I wrote back then.

There were constant ups and downs (and this is completely normal as cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile), but the price of the most popular cryptocurrency steadily rose. And yesterday Bitcoin has reached all-time high, crossing the $5,000 mark.

The price of Bitcoin has been steadily rising.

Today, as of 13 October 2017, the most valuable crypto is trading at roughly $5,500. It has been up by more than 12% over the last 24 hours, and its market capitalization is circa $92,500,000. Crazy, isn't' it?

The graph below (source: Coinmarketcap) allows you to visually see the wild ride of Bitcoin.

Over the last 3 months, the price of Bitcoin has more than doubled - from $2,300 to $5,300. Accordingly, the market cap has grown from circa $40 billion to around $93 billion.

Bitcoin is up more than 400% this year.

Another important metric to take a look at is the 24h trading volume. Back in July it was around $1 billion, and since then it has quadrupled, and now is circa $4 billion. Hence, with the growing Bitcoin popularity, speculation grows as well (you can obviously see that on the graph below, which represents year-to-date data).

What's Next?

It is always hard to predict the future. And it is nearly impossible to do so when it comes to cryptocurrencies. There are lots of different opinions and analyzes out there, but each and every of them should be considered with caution, and your own judgement must be applied.

Digital currencies now are stronger than ever.

Yet, what it is clear now is that digital currencies are as strong as ever. And their popularity as well as global demand will only likely to grow in the nearest future.

Speaking about what's next, it is crucial to consider the regulatory aspect. In my last piece I have briefly covered this, but it is essential to stress this once again -- majority of the regulators still don't get the underlying idea of Bitcoin (and effectively - other cryptocurrencies), and the regulation is always re-active rather than pro-active.

Nevertheless, some countries are more pro-crypto than others, which has thus caused the shift in cryptomarkets. Due to changes in regulatory conditions, now Japan is the leading Bitcoin trading hub, and it has taken away the sweet spot from China.

The graph below (source: Bloomberg) visually illustrates this.

Bringing it all together

The genie has been let out of the bottle. Bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies should continue to grow as more people will join the cryptorevolution.

Regulatory framework will only lead to re-shifts in the cryptomerkets, and thus will very likely cause the emergence of some sweet cryptospots (hint: Japan). Since Bitcoin (and to some extent, other cryptos) are censorship-resistant asset class, and centralized powers cannot control decentralized systems.

Therefore, it wouldn't surprise me at all, if by the end of the year the price of Bitcoin will cross $10,000 mark.

Disclaimer: the opinion below is not an investment advise. Cryptocurrencies are high-risk investment, therefore, they should be evaluated with caution. One should not invest more that s/he is willing to lose.