By
Lauren Adley
May 19th, 2019
According to a new report, in five years, the number of active Bitcoin users worldwide is going to reach 5 million mark.
On March 17, Juniper Research, the U.K.-based company that “specialises in identifying and appraising new high growth market sectors within the digital ecosystem” and provides research, analytical services, consultancy, and industry commentary, released a report which stated that the number of active Bitcoin users around the globe will approach 4.7 million by the end of 2019. In contrast, last year the number of users was just over 1.3 million.
Another report ‘The Future of Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin & Altcoin Impact & Opportunities 2015-2019’ published by the same research service in February, reads that that exchange trading will be widespread while retail adoption will be “restricted to relatively niche demographics.”
In addition, the report states that despite the fact that plenty of high profile retailers are starting Bitcoin payment, online and offline deployments’ activity is really low. Dr Windsor Holden, the author of the report, notes:
“While average daily transaction volumes have increased by around 50% since March 2014, the indications are that much of this growth results from higher transaction levels by established users rather from any substantial uplift in consumer adoption.”
According to the report under discussion, the difficulty in communicating the concept of cryptocurrency payments to end users is among the factors which notably inhibit growth. The fact that Bitcoin’s history is associated with money laundering, illegal market, etc. will further be an obstacle towards mass adoption.
Unfortunately, bad news and troubles are inevitable in the cryptocurrency world: crash of Bitcoin payment network Mt. Gox , Robert Faiella, Ross Ulbricht and the infamous Silk Road trial, 7170 BTC stolen from BTER.com, the unexpected closure of a Hong Kong-based bitcoin trading company, and so on and so forth. Well, it seems natural that the report reads that currency supply is likely to be restricted “with Bitcoin mining profitability threatened by a combination of the cryptocurrency’s volatility, lower Bitcoin yields and rising electricity costs.”
The protocol also includes some other statements:
- The introduction of licensed, regulated exchanges could lead to a stabilisation in currency values and with it an increase in retail transaction adoption
- The protocols behind cryptocurrency could be deployed in areas such as real-time transactional settlement
- The altcoin market continues to be plagued by “pump and dump” currencies created solely as short-term investment vehicles.
Juniper Research informs that it’s possible to download the whitepaper, Will Bitcoins Bite Back?, from the Juniper website along with the full version of the report and the attendant Interactive Forecast Excel (IFxl).
