Opinion: Bitcoin Has Come Far in Recent Days, But Its Volatility Remains a Huge Problem

At the time of writing, bitcoin – the world’s largest and most powerful digital currency by market cap – has experienced a bit of drop and is now trading for roughly $44,000 per unit.

Bitcoin Has Experienced a Slight Drop

While this still may seem like a big number in anybody’s eyes, the fact is that just a few days ago, the currency was selling for roughly $47,000, about $3,000 higher than where it stands now. What this shows us it that bitcoin is still vulnerable to market-related news and outside factors. While they can potentially lead to quick increases in BTC’s overall price, the lasting effects are never quite as strong as we would like them to be.

Recent coverage involving bitcoin revolved around Tesla, the electric car company owned and operated by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk. Just a few days ago, the currency gained a new fan in Tesla when the company decided to purchase more than $1.5 billion worth of the digital asset. This sent ripples through the entire space. Traders got uber excited and felt the move would lead to bigger and better things for bitcoin and all its competing digital cousins.

In addition, it was decided that this would ultimately pave the way for further institutions to make similar maneuvers, and at first, it looked like everything was going according to plan. The currency surged close to $50,000 before settling somewhat, while other large and competing assets such as Ethereum were witnessing new all-time highs.

Furthermore, Tesla was quick to mention that it was looking into possibly allowing digital currency payments for goods and services in the future. While we didn’t see other major companies invest the way Tesla did, some – such as Twitter and General Motors – also issued press materials suggesting that they would consider allowing crypto payments at some point, and it appeared as if bitcoin would be on the verge of widespread acceptance – just like Elon Musk had suggested not long before.

We’ve Got to Do Something About Its Volatility

But the fact that the asset has now dropped suggests that big news such as the Tesla story is never enough to protect bitcoin from what appears to be an eternal aura of volatility, which has ultimately gotten in the way of the currency accomplishing all it was designed to do. At first, bitcoin was built as a means of pushing fiat aside and allowing people to make payments with digital currencies.

Despite the recent news and steps forward, there are still several companies that refuse to accept BTC or even consider its possibilities given that it remains as vulnerable to price fluctuations today as it was five, seven or even nine years ago. Until bitcoin’s volatility can stop following it the way a lion follows a zebra, bitcoin isn’t likely to shed its speculative nature or reputation anytime soon.

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