A few years ago, Bitcoin was still an unpopular subject that was almost exclusively discussed amongst groups of tech experts, gaming communities, and early adopters. But at the end of 2017, Bitcoin has broken into the mainstream, emerging as a favorite topic in friendly chats as well as jumping into the headlines of both local and international news programs.
The cryptocurrency market has undeniably suffered a major slump during the first few months of the year. This phase of price correction is quite normal especially in markets that have recently experienced an explosive uptrend in just a short amount of time. And now that the market is slowly recovering, many investors are now considering to enter the cryptocurrency market and to become part of the financial revolution in the near future.
If you have already been a Bitcoin enthusiast for several months or years, you might already surely be familiar with the past trends in the cryptocurrency space. The previous year was marked by the rise of ICOs or Initial Coin Offerings as well as coin lending platforms. Every year, Bitcoin and the blockchain technology has something new to offer, the consumer behavior is evolving, and people become more open to the concept of cryptocurrencies. Here are the top three Bitcoin trends in 2018 that you need to know.
The Lightning Network will play a major role.
Bitcoin’s scalability has been one of the areas wherein improvements were very much needed in the past. The implementation of the Segregated Witness or SegWit and the eventual adoption by cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges have helped reduce the load on the network by decreasing the size of the transactions. Lightning Network, one of the leading off-chain solutions to scale Bitcoin, is slowly gaining track and is expected to improve the situation of the network by allowing the execution of near real-time transfers with negligible fees. The Lightning Network is now being used for payments and micro-transfers, and this trend is expected to continue as more improvements to the Bitcoin’s technology are laid out.
More institutional money will come in.
As Bitcoin goes into the mainstream, investors in traditional markets such as in stocks and foreign exchanges are also starting to explore the world of cryptocurrencies. At the end of last year, Bitcoin futures contracts have been opened in several major financial institutions in the world, including NASDAQ, CME, and CBOE. Several billionaires are also reported to have invested part of their fortune in cryptocurrencies.
With the rapid action in the market, it is important for small-time and big-time traders to keep up with the pace and respond quickly. Using automated trading systems such as the Bitcoin Code can help you execute fast and accurate trades on Bitcoin while avoiding your emotions and bias influence your decisions.
Regulation will have a huge influence on the market.
Several governments have been setting stricter guidelines on cryptocurrencies, but the results of the recent G20 summit are, to an extent, in favor of the development of these digital assets. Expect more regulations on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as governments aim to safeguard the interests of the many while making sure that the potential of this new technology will be fully realized.
