Explained | Bitcoin hits all-time high. Many investors expect the bull run to continue
The Hindu
Its price over the long-run, however, will depend on its fundamental value as a currency.
Bitcoin, the most popular private cryptocurrency in the world, has been rallying this year, . Many investors have been piling into bitcoin and they expect the bull run to continue. According to some estimates, over 10 crore Indians own cryptocurrencies, making India the country with the largest number of bitcoin holders in the world. India has recently also witnessed a number of bitcoin brokerages opening their doors to serve customers.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been growing rapidly in India despite the pessimism of the Centre and the Reserve Bank. In 2018, the from dealing with clients who handled private cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. However, the banning financial service organisations from serving dealers in bitcoin. This has cleared some of the uncertainty around the legal status of cryptocurrencies and contributed to the rapid rise in their trading volumes. The volumes in popular cryptoexchange platforms such as WazirX grew multi-fold last year within weeks of the Supreme Court’s decision.
CoinSwitch Kuber, CoinDCX, Zebpay and BuyUCoin are some of the other more popular platforms that have come up to facilitate retail trading in cryptocurrencies. CoinSwitch Kuber and CoinDCX have in fact managed to achieve unicorn status with their valuations crossing the $1-billion milestone recently. These companies have bet on India despite looming regulatory uncertainties as they see huge potential for growth in a market with a predominantly young population. Blockchain, the technology that underlies many cryptocurrencies, has also found favour among celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. These stars plan to launch NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to sell memorabilia that will carry their exclusive digital signature validated using the blockchain technology.