The cryptocurrency market moves up and down all the time. In order to be able to foresee its future trends, one ought to delve into the history of the sector.
The cryptocurrency market itself came to life back in 2010, when the very first transactions using Bitcoin were performed. There were no ‘exchange platforms’ per se back then: the aficionados of crypto currency exchanged coins on a direct basis, peer to peer. Not for long, though, as the Mt.Gox exchange platform appeared quite soon afterwards.
By mid-2011, Bitcoin was trading at par with the greenback — only to continue growing in value, as after an article appeared in the Time magazine, individuals outside the circle of early crypto adopters found out about Bitcoin and began to take interest in it. It was, however, the year 2011 that saw the most dramatic and volatile ‘rollercoaster trend’ as Bitcoin was fluctuating between $2.93 and $31.90. Correction in percentage terms was at times as high as 93%.
In 2012 and 2013, Bitcoin — dragging the entire crypto market along — was having good days and bad days. Rare good days were overshadowed by sad news (many of you might still recall the infamous Bitcoin Savings & Trust and Linode). By late 2013, however, Bitcoin went into an upward trend and gained 37 per cent in value.
The year 2014 was one of the sorriest Bitcoin years ever. Investors were panicking and dumping their bitcoins; as a result of this, it went into a 229-day downward trend. Meantime, the media background was fuelling the panic: the Mt.Gox bankruptcy alone caused the price tumble by 30 to 40 per cent and the traders were having an utter nightmare.
Come 2015, though, and Bitcoin started growing rapidly, with intermittent slight (and natural) corrections — and dragged the crypto market, by and large, right upwards, as the share of Bitcoin was in the vicinity of 50 to 90 percent of the entire crypto market. This rapid growth was caused by a number of reasons, but the point was that Bitcoin was on the offensive everywhere. The end of 2017 was particularly bullish as monthly growth was 20 to 30 per cent, with the exchange rate reaching $20,000 per Bitcoin (albeit for a very short period of time).
Early 2018 was a time of uncertainty, as Bitcoin fell by more than 50%; lately, though, the price is far less volatile, and there is no cause for any serious concern.
One cannot foresee for certain, though, how will this market be developing henceforth; but we prefer to remain optimistic. The world does not seem to have grasped the entire concept of crypto currencies, and does seem to approach this market cautiously. But very soon (we reckon), when the broader public becomes aware of all of the advantages of crypto coins, we may well witness one of the most massive and dramatic ‘rollercoaster’ in the history of virtual money.
