Bitcoin in its 13th year… Will it be destined to collapse...

This week, the world’s most famous cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, celebrates its thirteenth year since it began trading, which was said to pose a threat to central banks around the world as it is a decentralized currency that does not need an intermediary to trade.

The mysterious creator of currency, Satoshi Nakamoto, put out a paper on the currency in 2008, describing it as an electronic monetary system that aims to change the global economy in the same way that the Internet changed human lives forever.

No one could predict the value of the coin, which touched $69,000 last year. In May 2010, the first bitcoin purchase was made. A programmer bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins, the equivalent of $565 million today.

Commonalities with Apple

Although the young coin is only 13 years old, its market value reached 3 trillion dollars last year, the same market value reached by Apple, which dates back to its founding 46 years ago.

The year in which the first major cryptocurrency exchange went public, Coinbase, last April also saw an increase in participation from Wall Street banks such as Goldman Sachs, and the green light for the first US exchange-traded fund linked to Bitcoin, according to the newspaper. Gulf.

However, increased regulatory scrutiny and extreme price fluctuations have led to concerns about Bitcoin’s prospects, as while experts are predicting the currency’s recovery and reaching $100,000, some believe it may be heading for a crash.

Currency collapse

Some experts believe that Bitcoin is set to experience a sharp decline in the coming months, according to CNBC.

The cryptocurrency jumped to a record high of nearly $69,000 in November. It is now priced under $50,000, down nearly 30% from its peak.

Carol Alexander, professor of finance at the University of Sussex, said she expects Bitcoin to reach $10,000 in 2022, virtually erasing all of its gains in the past year and a half.

“If I were an investor now, I would consider exiting the bitcoin market soon because its price will probably collapse next year,” she explained. Its bearish view is based on the idea that Bitcoin “has no fundamental value” and is more of a “game” than an investment.

Alexander warned that history is repeating itself. In 2018, Bitcoin plummeted nearly $3,000 after climbing to nearly $20,000 a few months ago. Cryptocurrency backers often say things are different this time, with more institutional investors entering the market.

“Bitcoin price chart appears to track several historical asset bubbles, and this time it has a different narrative just like the others,” said Todd Lowenstein, chief equity strategist at Union Bank.

However, not everyone is still convinced that the cryptocurrency boom will end in 2022.

Bitcoin jump

anticipation Goldman Sachs Bank The cryptocurrency Bitcoin will continue to attract investors from the gold market as part of the broader adoption of digital assets, making the price of $100,000 in the currency feasible.

Goldman estimated that the market capitalization adjusted for available units of Bitcoin is about 700 billion dollars, which represents 20% of the safe-to-serve assets that are currently represented in Bitcoin and gold.

Goldman Sachs stressed that if the share of Bitcoin in the safe-keeping asset market rises to 50% in the next five years, it is not excluded that the value of the cryptocurrency will exceed $100,000.

This comes as Bitcoin is trading around the $46,000 level, after rising nearly 60% last year. The largest digital asset by market capitalization hit a record high of nearly $69,000 last November. Over the past five years, the cryptocurrency has risen over 4,700%.

According to Goldman Sachs, while Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of energy, which may be an obstacle to institutional adoption, this will not stop the demand for the crypto asset.