Bitcoin Price Rises Above $950, Setting New High for 2016

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by Tatsiana Yablonskaya · 3 min read
Bitcoin Price Rises Above $950, Setting New High for 2016
Bitcoin cookies. Photo: Pinguino k/Flickr

Bitcoin experts emphasize a correlation between the financial problems in India and a bitcoin price rise.

After a slump to $864 on Christmas Day, bitcoin has continued its upward movement to $954 as for now. Relying on Indian market insiders, the push can continue till at least Q1 2017.

Several weeks ago, experts marked India as one of the most possible impacts on bitcoin price. Now, as the price is reaching $1000, the effect of the Indian market on Bitcoin is in the news again.

Sandeep Goenka, the co-founder of Zebpay, emphasizes that situation in India influences the cryptocurrency even though the demonetization process in the country is yet to end.

“Yes, it absolutely should be because we have a huge potential Bitcoin market which is still very small. We continued to add 50,000 users and will do more than $15 mln in Bitcoin trades in December. These are small numbers for India.”

Sandeep noted that bitcoin prices in India are currently matching those in the US. He explained that typically the cryptocurrency trades at a premium in India when prices rise fast internationally and that the prices match international rates when volatility goes down.

“I believe that all Bitcoin fundamentals are very strong. I expect a price of $2,000+ by the end of 2017. I do believe that Bitcoin is increasingly eligible as an alternate asset class and investment”, he said.

Mohit Kalra, the founder of Coinsecure, an Indian bitcoin exchange that has been working on some explosive builds to make bitcoin more mainstream, shares the opinion of Sandeep. He reveals that Indian mass media focuses on bitcoin underlining a correlation between the financial problems in India and a Bitcoin price rise at least until January and the end of February.

Kalra says: “Especially with the New Year buying and investments. Quite a few people are losing faith in the government and are looking at other ways to hold their wealth. With bans and restrictions on gold, the smarter ones are getting on board to Bitcoin.”

Kalra predicts that bitcoin price will continue growing in the nearest future. “Prices will keep going higher and will remain at a premium in India compared to global markets until the supply and liquidity rise to better levels in India. It might hit $1000 again. It already hit that in India just a few weeks ago”, he says.

The year of 2016 has been rather unsteady for bitcoin. Such global political events as the Brexit vote in June and the US presidential election in November couldn’t but influenced the world’s most widespread cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency started from $432, jumped up to $750 as the UK prepared to vote to leave the European Union, but fell back below $500 in August as traders digested the outcome. The most recent weeks demonstrated steady growth of bitcoin price at first up to $800 and then even breaking the $900 barrier.

“Bitcoin’s continued growth will depend on the factors that have so far contributed to its success,” said Maria Terekhova, BI Intelligence’s fintech research analyst. “On one hand, as the cryptocurrency gains more exposure and enters the mainstream, more investors may to flock to the asset.”

“On the other hand, however, much of bitcoin’s recent boom has resulted from uncertainty around events such as the US election and Brexit. As Trump enters office and Brexit negotiations begin, the resulting settling-down might impact bitcoin’s momentum. Bitcoin’s future success is tied to whether investors will embrace the asset on its own merits, rather than simply in response to geopolitics.”

Bitcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, News
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