For years, some of the fiercest critics of Bitcoin have been decrying it as a fad, also warning about the chances that the coin creates for fraud and money laundering.
“None of those concerns have stopped the industry’s growth,” write Imani Moise and Anna Irrera for Reuters, exploring the state of Bitcoin in current markets.
Here’s one sign of this ebullient feeling around BTC: Bitcoin ATMs are springing up everywhere. Moise and Irrera, in surveying this landscape, report on everyday families buying Bitcoin with their leftover grocery money, and everyday folks acquiring the cryptocurrency at gas stations, casinos or other venues around the country.
One of the main reasons for acquiring Bitcoin is to store up capital in a way that’s not vulnerable to inflation that you face when you hide your money under the mattress.
“(Bitcoin) has become increasingly popular with mainstream institutional investor, and supporters argue that it is starting to supplant gold as a store of value,” writes Kalyeena Makortoff at The Guardian. “Analysts at the US investment bank JP Morgan said this week that Bitcoin could eventually hit $146,000 if it bolsters its reputation as an alternative to the precious metal. They said the cryptocurrency was also becoming an option for investors who were looking to hedge against inflation, but were turned off by the depreciating US dollar.”
Outsized yields are another factor – while interest rates are historically low, making dollar savings pretty powerless to gain, new staking protocols mean cryptocurrency holders can get up to 10% or more on their money.
Also, as the stock market goes through massive volatility, people are recognizing that even equities are not great gainers during a bloodbath, and looking at cryptocurrency as something that’s secure from Federal Reserve manipulation.
With all of this in mind, now may be the time to go bravely out into a new finance sector that’s showing a lot of promise. BTC has risen a lot, and sank a little, and now it’s time to make an informed decision.