Uh Oh: This is Going to Challenge Bitcoin's Fundamental Value

By Neil Stevens | 11:15 AM on January 02, 2018

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A man walks past the Bitcoin ATMs in Hong Kong, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. Bitcoin is the world's most popular virtual currency. Such currencies are not tied to a bank or government and allow users to spend money anonymously. They are basically lines of computer code that are digitally signed each time they are traded. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Bitcoin has always been volatile, but these new market forces potentially threaten the fundamental value of the so-called cryptocurrency.

Larry Fink said “Bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world,” and there’s a lot of truth to that. Bitcoin’s price famously tanked after the original Silk Road was shut down, though replacements have allowed the value to continue to climb.

New cryptocurrencies are starting up, though, and those could take demand away from Bitcoin on a permanent basis. Not only is Monero doing pretty well (priced at about US$350), but it’s actually growing faster than Bitcoin, so it could cause speculative money to move as well.

But why would criminals love Monero? While Bitcoin has no anonymity, due to its use of an open ledger called a Blockchain, Monero seeks to hide people’s identities:

Started in 2014, monero is very different. It encrypts the recipient’s address on its blockchain and generates fake addresses to obscure the real sender. It also obscures the amount of the transaction.

If criminals flock to Monero, then Bitcoin loses a big market, and that could be it for the bubble!