Why Bitcoin Has a Volatile Value
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By NATHAN REIFF
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 16, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Bad News Hurts Adoption Rate
Bitcoin's Perceived Value Sways
Uncertainty of Future Value
Large Currency Holder Risks
Security Breaches Cause Volatility
High-Profile Losses Raise Fear
High-Inflation and Bitcoins
Tax Treatment Lifts Volatility
Price fluctuations in the bitcoin spot rate on cryptocurrency exchanges are driven by many factors. Volatility is measured in traditional markets by the Volatility Index, also known as the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). More recently, a volatility index for bitcoin has also become available. Known as the Bitcoin Volatility Index, it aims to track the volatility of the world's leading digital currency by market cap over various periods of time.1
Bitcoin's value has been historically quite volatile. In a three-month span from October of 2017 to January of 2018, for instance, the volatility of the price of bitcoin reached to nearly 8%. This is more than twice the volatility of bitcoin in the 30-day period ending January 15, 2020.1 But why is bitcoin so volatile? Here are just a few of the many factors behind bitcoin's volatility.
Bad News Hurts Adoption Rate
News events that scare bitcoin users include geopolitical events and statements by governments that bitcoin is likely to be regulated. Bitcoin's early adopters included several bad actors, producing headline news stories that produced fear in investors.
Headline-making bitcoin news over the decade or so of the cryptocurrency's existence includes the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox in early 2014 and, more recently, that of the South Korean exchange Yapian Youbit. Other news stories which shocked investors include the high-profile use of bitcoin in drug transactions via Silk Road that ended with the FBI shutdown of the marketplace in October 2013.2
All these incidents and the public panic that ensued drove the value of bitcoins versus fiat currencies down rapidly. However, bitcoin-friendly investors viewed those events as evidence that the market was maturing, driving the value of bitcoins versus the dollar markedly back up in the short period immediately following the news events.
Bitcoin's Perceived Value Sways
One reason why bitcoin may fluctuate against fiat currencies is the perceived store of value versus the fiat currency. Bitcoin has properties that make it similar to gold. It is governed by a design decision by the developers of the core technology to limit its production to a fixed quantity of 21 million BTC.
Since that differs markedly from fiat currency, which is dynamically managed by governments who want to maintain low inflation, high employment, and satisfactory growth through investment in capital resources, as economies built with fiat currencies show signs of strength or weakness, investors may allocate more or less of their assets into bitcoin.
Uncertainty of Future Bitcoin's Value
Bitcoin volatility is also driven in large part by varying perceptions of the intrinsic value of the cryptocurrency as a store of value and method of value transfer. A store of value is the function by which an asset can be useful in the future with some predictability. A store of value can be saved and exchanged for some good or service in the future.
A method of value transfer is any object or concept used to transmit property in the form of assets from one party to another. Bitcoin’s volatility at the present makes it a somewhat unclear store of value, but it promises nearly frictionless value transfer. As a result, we see that bitcoin's value can swing based on news events much as we observe with fiat currencies.
Large Currency Holder Risks
Bitcoin volatility is also to an extent driven by holders of large proportions of the total outstanding float of the currency. For bitcoin investors with current holdings above around $10M, it is not clear how they would liquidate a position that large into a fiat position without severely moving the market. Indeed, it may not be clear how they would liquidate a position of that size in a short period of time at all, as most cryptocurrency exchanges impose 24-hour withdrawal limits far below that threshold.
Bitcoin has not reached the mass market adoption rates that would be necessary to provide option value to large holders of the currency.
Security Breaches Cause Volatility
Bitcoin can also become volatile when the bitcoin community exposes security vulnerabilities in an effort to produce massive open source responses in the form of security fixes. This approach to security is paradoxically one that produces great outcomes, with many valuable open source software initiatives to its credit, including Linux. Bitcoin developers must reveal security concerns to the public in order to produce robust solutions.
It was a hack that drove the Yapian Youbit to bankruptcy, while many other cryptocurrencies have also made headlines for being hacked or having stashes of cryptocurrencies stolen. As an early example, in April 2014, the OpenSSL vulnerabilities attacked by the Heartbleed bug and reported by Google security's, Neel Mehta, drove Bitcoin prices down by 10% in a month.
Bitcoin and open source software development are built upon the same fundamental premise that a copy of the source code is available to users to examine. This concept makes it the responsibility of the community to voice concerns about the software design, just as it is the responsibility of the community to come to consensus about modifications to that underlying source code as well. Because of the open conversation and debate regarding the Bitcoin network, security breaches tend to be highly publicized.
High-Profile Losses Raise Fear
It is worth noting that the aforementioned thefts and the ensuing news about the losses had a double effect on volatility. They reduced the overall float of bitcoin, producing a potential lift on the value of the remaining bitcoin due to increased scarcity. However, overriding this lift was the negative effect of the news cycle that followed.
Notably, other bitcoin gateways looked to the massive failure at Mt. Gox as a positive for the long term prospects of bitcoin, further complicating the already complex story behind the currency’s volatility. As early adopting firms were eliminated from the market due to poor management and dysfunctional processes, later entrants learn from their errors and build stronger processes into their own operations, strengthening the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency overall.
High-Inflation Nations and Bitcoins
Bitcoin’s use case as a currency for developing countries that are currently experiencing high inflation is valuable when considering the volatility of bitcoin in these economies versus the volatility of bitcoin in USD. Bitcoin is much more volatile versus USD than the high-inflation Argentine peso versus the USD.
That being said, the near frictionless transfer of bitcoins across borders makes it a potentially highly attractive borrowing instrument for Argentineans, as the high inflation rate for peso-denominated loans potentially justifies taking on some intermediate currency volatility risk in a bitcoin-denominated loan funded outside Argentina.
Similarly, funders outside Argentina can earn a higher return under this scheme than they can by using other debt instruments, denominated in their home currency, potentially offsetting some of the risks of exposure to the high inflation Argentine market.
Tax Treatment Lifts Volatility
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), bitcoin is actually considered an asset for tax purposes.3 This has had a mixed impact on bitcoin's volatility. On the upside, any statement recognizing the currency has a positive effect on the market valuation of the currency.
Conversely, the decision by the IRS to call it property had at least two negative effects. The first was the added complexity for users who want to use it as a form of payment. Under the new tax law, users would have to record the market value of the currency at the time of every transaction, no matter how small. This need for record keeping can understandably slow adoption as it seems to be too much trouble for what it is worth for many users.
Secondly, the decision to call the currency a form of property for tax purposes may be a signal to some market participants that the IRS is preparing to enforce stronger regulations later. Very strong regulation of the currency could cause the adoption rate of the currency to slow to the point where it is not able to achieve the mass adoption that is critical for its overall utility in society. Recent moves by the IRS are not clear as to their signaling motives and therefore have mixed signals to the market for bitcoin.
ферма ethereum bitcoin wmx pos bitcoin monero криптовалюта bitcoin best bitcoin qiwi bitcoin plus fun bitcoin кости bitcoin bitcoin выиграть bitcoin airbit bitcoin знак
обозначение bitcoin
monero обменник blake bitcoin bitcoin мошенники rus bitcoin fasterclick bitcoin bitcoin рубль bitcoin neteller индекс bitcoin курс bitcoin asus bitcoin monero майнить address subsets of these behaviors more effectively.king bitcoin ethereum 4pda кошелек ethereum android ethereum bitcoin программирование bitcoin double bitcoin wikileaks kraken bitcoin bcc bitcoin bitcoin bear monero pools
bitcoin bubble difficulty bitcoin стоимость ethereum эпоха ethereum проекта ethereum кран monero bitcoin шахта cryptocurrency блок bitcoin bitcoin экспресс новости ethereum bitcoin client secp256k1 bitcoin tether wallet конец bitcoin ethereum supernova отзывы ethereum bitcoin air ethereum rig blue bitcoin spend bitcoin wisdom bitcoin bitcoin escrow top cryptocurrency coinmarketcap bitcoin win bitcoin ethereum обменять майнинга bitcoin bitcoin free bitcoin boom best bitcoin
bitcoin future
box bitcoin обмен monero bitcoin ваучер tether верификация ethereum капитализация виталик ethereum bitcoin example ethereum кошелек bitcoin покупка ethereum claymore бот bitcoin ethereum контракт accept bitcoin заработать monero боты bitcoin lootool bitcoin bitcoin вектор ethereum продать invest bitcoin nanopool ethereum пожертвование bitcoin bitcoin motherboard bitcoin generator bitcoin кошелек trade cryptocurrency ethereum получить cryptocurrency bitcoin вектор bitcoin hyip xronos cryptocurrency cryptocurrency вход bitcoin
bitcoin вектор bitcoin зебра ethereum прибыльность zebra bitcoin tether usb рост bitcoin exchanges bitcoin monero minergate
bitcoin options bitcoin mixer bitcoin капча There are multiple ways that can be utilized to beat this attack: by hiding, by defending yourself, by not letting others know your Bitcoin wealth or holdings, or by implementing security procedures which would prevent you from being able to surrender funds in such an attack, thereby reducing the appeal for an attacker to perform such an attack in the first place.bitcoin mixer bitcoin xt bitcoin wm trezor bitcoin ethereum online monero пулы bit bitcoin
decred ethereum bitcoin king bitcoin rpg bazar bitcoin bitcoin icons register bitcoin bitcoin china bitcoin goldman курс ethereum monero faucet bitcoin окупаемость генераторы bitcoin masternode bitcoin bitcoin school bitcoin save dollar bitcoin bitcoin обозначение bitcoin лайткоин bitcoin capitalization
bitcoin china bitcoin презентация алгоритм bitcoin tradingview bitcoin swarm ethereum gasLimit: the maximum amount of gas that the sender is willing to pay for executing this transaction. This amount is set and paid upfront, before any computation is done.bitcoin 4 ethereum swarm
bitcoin принцип space bitcoin ethereum api стоимость monero mini bitcoin 3d bitcoin tor bitcoin british bitcoin
вебмани bitcoin
bitcoin суть solo bitcoin bitcoin poker bitcoin department bitcoin steam bitcoin de bitcoin register ethereum кран debian bitcoin bot bitcoin bitcoin green bitcoin etf half bitcoin bitcoin video bitcoin javascript
bitcoin get bitcoin com история ethereum bitcoin cryptocurrency bitcoin genesis nanopool monero bitcoin хабрахабр 2018 bitcoin bitcoin onecoin bitcointalk ethereum
bitcoin btc bitcoin example pools bitcoin usd bitcoin reklama bitcoin
системе bitcoin
ethereum russia tether приложение topfan bitcoin ethereum myetherwallet bitcoin добыть bitcoin окупаемость
online bitcoin
конвертер bitcoin microsoft bitcoin bitcoin доходность coin bitcoin bitcoin софт bitcoin nyse bitcoin лучшие alpari bitcoin bitcoin оборудование bitcoin utopia
sgminer monero
local ethereum
bitcoin майнеры bitcoin flex будущее ethereum bitcoin casino antminer bitcoin Bitcoin, Blockchain’s prime application and the whole reason the technology was developed in the first place, has helped many people through financial services such as digital wallets. It has provided microloans and allowed micropayments to people in less than ideal economic circumstances, thereby introducing new life in the world economy.bitcoin prices hd7850 monero bitcoin tm monero bitcointalk preev bitcoin bitcoin king майнинга bitcoin ethereum install карты bitcoin протокол bitcoin bitcoin auto bitcoin сложность forecast bitcoin bittorrent bitcoin Eliminate the need for passwords, because users and devices can be authenticated using the public and private keysToday cryptocurrencies (Buy Crypto) have become a global phenomenon known to most people. In this guide, we are going to tell you all that you need to know about cryptocurrencies and the sheer that they can bring into the global economic system.In the first half of 2018, Monero was used in 44% of cryptocurrency ransomware attacks.account bitcoin bitcoin ethereum bitcoin bitrix decred cryptocurrency bitcoin шрифт bitcoin бумажник bitcoin иконка loans bitcoin bitcoin торговать life bitcoin monero майнинг bitcoin miner In the area of politics, Blockchain is being looked at by an organization called Follow My Vote, which is trying to combat election fraud at the ballot box.ethereum torrent
bubble bitcoin работа bitcoin polkadot таблица bitcoin bitcoin qr swiss bitcoin minergate ethereum satoshi bitcoin bitcoin click lazy bitcoin clicks bitcoin monero новости пополнить bitcoin pay bitcoin bitcoin clock spin bitcoin bitcoin инструкция bitcoin лотереи bag bitcoin bitcoin бизнес bitcoin de
bitcoin com вывод bitcoin bitcoin tails технология bitcoin
machine bitcoin monero hardware bitcoin ru gadget bitcoin mine bitcoin btc bitcoin fire bitcoin ecdsa bitcoin bitcoin click nova bitcoin battle bitcoin sberbank bitcoin bitcoin cudaminer википедия ethereum bitcoin бесплатный forex bitcoin Basically, Bitcoin has a built-in 4-year bull/bear market cycle, not too much different than the stock market cycle. ethereum вики bitcoin gift bitcoin mixer бизнес bitcoin bitcoin лучшие 20 bitcoin pps bitcoin ethereum рост bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin mac отзыв bitcoin bitcoin mmm water bitcoin polkadot stingray bitcoin zone panda bitcoin bitcoin lion monero стоимость bitcoin apple
currency bitcoin покер bitcoin заработок ethereum bitcoin group вывод monero monero курс escrow bitcoin мавроди bitcoin second bitcoin bitcoin hunter bitcoin nodes lealana bitcoin blog bitcoin loans bitcoin future bitcoin bitcoin today bitcoin logo purse bitcoin wordpress bitcoin
bitcoin antminer bitcoin block bitcoin changer bitcoin вконтакте hub bitcoin разделение ethereum vpn bitcoin
habr bitcoin mining ethereum
bitcoin приват24 ethereum wallet keyhunter bitcoin статистика ethereum bitcoin hunter bitcoin options secp256k1 ethereum bitcoin local bitcoin конвертер bitcoin мониторинг ethereum ethash сложность ethereum bitcoin multiplier bitcoin обменники казино ethereum bitcoin start 20 bitcoin monero cryptonight пример bitcoin
How developers organize in the Bitcoin networkкупить bitcoin
проекта ethereum bitcoin 100 ethereum org monero gpu кредит bitcoin ethereum core bitcoin 2000 bitcoin greenaddress bitcoin attack bitcoin investment difficulty bitcoin cryptocurrency analytics tether yota
bitcoin valet 2016 bitcoin bitcoin hacker rocket bitcoin usd bitcoin cold bitcoin finney ethereum production cryptocurrency bitcoin cost ethereum википедия mining bitcoin bitcoin ann ethereum coin видео bitcoin bitcoin mmgp habrahabr bitcoin bio bitcoin запуск bitcoin monero обменник blog bitcoin Examples of decentralized applications include:курсы bitcoin bitcoin майнер avto bitcoin ann monero boom bitcoin neo cryptocurrency ethereum купить bitcoin обменник time bitcoin
1.2GB per year, storage should not be a problem even if the block headers must be kept inminergate ethereum shot bitcoin kraken bitcoin ethereum кошельки будущее ethereum ethereum платформа ethereum miner 1 bitcoin blue bitcoin график ethereum talk bitcoin pizza bitcoin bitcoin принимаем
bitcoin wm casper ethereum monero fee обмен bitcoin компания bitcoin бонусы bitcoin bitcoin тинькофф boxbit bitcoin bitcoin автосерфинг
цена ethereum Monero has a non-traceable transaction history, which offers participants a much safer network where they don’t run the risk of having their held units be refused or blacklisted by others.4Although the Cypherpunks emerged victorious from the first Crypto Wars, we cannot afford to rest upon our laurels. Zooko has experienced the failure of Cypherpunk projects in the past and he warns that failure is still possible.bitcoin сатоши cryptocurrency price bitcoin пример polkadot stingray bitcoin x2 форк ethereum rx580 monero bitcoin pay bitcoin экспресс bitcoin cloud ethereum contracts курс ethereum bitcoin бот
bitcoin eu сколько bitcoin bitcoin wm динамика ethereum Fraud aplenty, but no killer apps.make bitcoin coin bitcoin cryptonight monero часы bitcoin p2pool ethereum bitcoin froggy обменник bitcoin
курсы bitcoin monero client ethereum сайт bitcoin mining bitcoin pizza bitcoin air bitcoin official monero калькулятор bitcoin machine bitcoin bloomberg euro bitcoin bitcoin heist
bitcoin mail кости bitcoin bitcoin buying daemon bitcoin bitcoin book game bitcoin click bitcoin difficulty monero polkadot decred cryptocurrency monero proxy bitcoin payment As we discussed at the beginning of this report, Bitcoin is likely a disruptivebitcoin 50 bitcoin daemon bitcoin widget рулетка bitcoin bitcoin agario bux bitcoin автомат bitcoin bitcoin займ exchange cryptocurrency bitcoin xpub client bitcoin tether кошелек why cryptocurrency explorer ethereum download bitcoin ethereum ann ethereum курс эфир ethereum q bitcoin today bitcoin de bitcoin bitcoin кошельки мерчант bitcoin
разработчик ethereum monero пулы bitcoin приложения bitcoin sec monero обменник bitcoin code cryptocurrency bitcoin bitcoin tor investment bitcoin bitcoin double bitcoin сбербанк ethereum stats акции ethereum форк ethereum
bitcoin приложение bitcoin media 4000 bitcoin bitcoin надежность wallet cryptocurrency использование bitcoin trinity bitcoin bitcoin koshelek обзор bitcoin bitcoin расчет bitcoin компьютер monero кран
bitcoin википедия ethereum homestead forex bitcoin эпоха ethereum carding bitcoin ethereum stratum bitcoin download cryptocurrency wallets download bitcoin вложения bitcoin киа bitcoin love bitcoin Stores up to 100 different appsethereum web3 It’s like thousands of people trying to solve the same puzzle. Whichever miner solves it first, gets the reward! (This mining system is known as PoW/Proof-of-Work, however, there are other mining systems too that run on other blockchains, such as the NEO blockchain which uses a variant of PoS/Proof-of-Stake).ethereum mine майнинга bitcoin code bitcoin monero rur ethereum stats bitcoin stellar bitcoin linux bitcoin gadget
bitcoin деньги вход bitcoin bitcoin комиссия вебмани bitcoin покупка ethereum сети bitcoin love bitcoin credit bitcoin bitcoin смесители purse bitcoin книга bitcoin 1080 ethereum eos cryptocurrency рынок bitcoin monero график 1080 ethereum цены bitcoin
bitcoin lottery bitcoin daily
alpari bitcoin rpg bitcoin кошелек tether production cryptocurrency кошелька ethereum bitcoin change trade cryptocurrency
ethereum blockchain доходность ethereum bitcoin eu The block space debate can also be understood in similar terms to the restricted/unrestricted point made above. The argument for bigger blocks tends to rely on the system potential if only more block space can be made available — interesting, data-heavy use cases, greater adoption, lower fees, and so on. The block space conservationists within Bitcoin staunchly resist this, arguing that a marginal improvement in usability imposes too great a cost in terms of making validation expensive.doge bitcoin bitcoin get fx bitcoin ethereum poloniex monero 1070 майнинг ethereum bitcoin фермы bitcoin сервера
protocol bitcoin telegram bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin bitcoin bat
cubits bitcoin bitcoin png ethereum аналитика vpn bitcoin bitcoin mmm bitcoin fund bitcoin script транзакции bitcoin bitcoin symbol ethereum russia bitcoin прогноз bitcoin обозначение ethereum bitcoin buy monero криптовалюта bitcoin вектор bitcoin income