Anyone who takes an interest in the financial sector will have noticed a lot of assets are performing pretty badly as of late. In fact, the number of viable assets to invest in is at an all-time low right now. Bitcoin has been the best performing currency for two years in a row now and continues its bullish trend unencumbered.
Bitcoin is The Only Asset That Matters
When looking at the currency charts for 2016, it is hard to ignore the obvious truth. Bitcoin is the only currency that even remotely matters to investors, as it more than doubled in value throughout 2016. Despite its market volatility, this “fake internet money” managed to outperform every other tradeable asset or currency in the traditional financial sector.
To put this into perspective, Bitcoin has not always been the most popular asset among traders by any means. The past four years have been divided between two years of performing poorly, and two years of setting highs. Luckily, we are currently on the “setting highs” stage of the curve, and the Bitcoin price continues to increase nearly every single day.
Looking at the other global currencies paired with the US Dollar in 2016, it is obvious Bitcoin is in a league of its own. The second highest-performing currency is the Brazilian Real, which gained a whopping 21.9% in value. Other traditional currencies, such as the Euro, Yuan, and Pound Sterling all lost between 3.2% and 16.3% of their value in 2016. A very troublesome trend for traders who stick to traditional offerings.
While all of this news is very positive for Bitcoin so far, the question remains as to how the currency will perform in 2017. Things are off to a good start, with the bullish price trend continuing throughout the first four days of 2017. However, it is unclear if this trend will continue in the long run, or if a retrace is on the horizon. A limited supply paired with high demand will eventually lead to a higher price, but the demand can dry up in a heartbeat.
It seems as if Bitcoin has left the “volatility days” behind, and is now focusing on positioning itself as the global currency it can become. Traders are showing an increased appetite for Bitcoin all over the world. Moreover, the financial turmoil caused by governments in China, India, Venezuela, and other countries is only fueling the fire. This doesn’t mean Bitcoin will replace traditional currencies anytime soon, though.
Header image courtesy of Shutterstock
