Bitcoin rebounds up near $50,000 today, and traders are eagerly waiting for more signs of higher Bitcoin prices to come, as visions of sugar-plums dance in their heads.
Across the tech media world, analysts are citing comments by top brass at Citigroup, where the banking giant contends Bitcoin is now at a “tipping point” that may see additional institutional buy-in within the next year or beyond.
“According to a Reuters report Monday, Citi analysts are confident that Bitcoin is on the cusp of going mainstream,” reports Helen Partz at Cointelegraph. “According to the report, Bitcoin’s tremendous potential has been fueled by recent big Bitcoin moves by companies like Tesla and Mastercard … Citi analysts … hinted that the mainstream adoption of Bitcoin could be helped along by digital currency developments like central bank digital currencies and fiat-pegged stablecoins.”
The accompanying correction in BTC that Partz notes, a drop from $58,000 to $44,000, has been partially reversed at press time as BTC sits around $48,000.
Meanwhile, others are also noticing Bitcoin’s potential.
“Bitcoin’s recent performance has come with the growing involvement of institutional investors in recent years, contrasting with its heavy retail investor focus for most of the past decade,” writes a Reuters staffer in a piece replicated at U.S. News and World Report. “If businesses and individuals gain access via digital wallets to planned central bank digital cash and so-called stablecoins, Bitcoin’s global reach, traceability and potential for quick payments would see it ‘optimally positioned’ to become the preferred currency for international trade, Citi said. Bitcoin, designed as a payment tool, is little used for commerce in major economies, hampered by high volatility and relatively costly transactions. Still, it has over the past year gained traction in some emerging markets such as Nigeria. Such a dramatic transformation for Bitcoin to the de facto currency of world trade – a status currently held by the dollar – would depend on changes to its market to allow wider institutional participation and closer oversight by financial regulators, Citi said.”
Meanwhile, in China, the buying and selling of Bitcoin is up a surprising amount, worrying Chinese regulators who kind of want to nip some of these things in the bud.
If you’re long on BTC, you’re likely sitting pretty – keep an eye out as this unfolds.
