This year, developments around the first cryptocurrency on the market, Bitcoin, have accelerated. Let’s go back to the main events of 2019.
Launch of the first physically settled futures
It is futures sure Bitcoin which allows investors to recover bitcoins and not fiat money (dollars) on the expiration date of contracts.
Several actors such as Bakkt, ErisX or LedgerX, were in the running to get the approval of the American regulator to launch this type of product.
It’s finally Bakkt, the crypto-subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (owner of the New York Stock Exchange), which opened the ball last September, followed by ErisX, a crypto-exchange supported by Nasdaq.
Bitcoin becomes institutionalized
The Bitcoin market structure would have evolved a lot, the share of volume in futures contracts being up sharply compared to the volume observed on retail crypto-exchanges like Coinbase.
More and more big companies, like ICE and Fidelity in the United States or Boerse Stuttgart in Europe, have launched institutional trading and custody services for Bitcoin.
According to a survey by investment manager Fidelity, 22% of American institutional investors have digital assets and 40% are interested in investing within 5 years.
Banks and Bitcoin
If so far most banks have been very suspicious of crypto-currencies, they seem to be exploring more and more of this new asset class. Starting next year, german banks should be allowed to offer and keep Bitcoin.
Still in Europe, Seba Bank, a crypto-friendly Swiss bank created by former UBS executives, recently started offering its crypto-services, notably for Bitcoin.
Across the Atlantic, the listed American bank Silvergate now serves more than 750 clients specializing in cryptocurrency.
Jeffrey Sprecher, CEO of ICE, said last month that all types of financial institutions spoke to his affiliate. Bakkt to learn more about its crypto-products.
For the CEO of Ripple, 10 of the 20 largest banks in the world will own and trade next year.
The central banks explore the possibilities offered by the blockchain to design digital currencies of central banks. The Bank of France recently announced testing such a currency.
Still no ETF on Bitcoin approved
Long awaited, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) sure Bitcoin should facilitate investment in the market’s first cryptocurrency. This type of financial product is indeed considered to be an important lever for the development of an asset class.
While several companies specializing in crpto-currencies such as bitwise, Wilshire and Vaneck / SolidX, have been refused or are still awaiting a response from the US stock market policeman DRY, for some analysts, as well as one of the commissioners of the regulatory body, a ETF on Bitcoin will end up being approved.
Earlier this year, the chairman of the SEC explained that certain problems such as market manipulation and theft of cryptocurrencies must be resolved before the organization is comfortable with the idea of approving such a product. .
Bitcoin on TV
The famous digital play had the right to an exhibition on American but also French TV.
In spring, Grayscale, one of the largest crypto investment managers in the United States, has put online Drop Gold, an ad calling to give up gold to switch to Bitcoin.
More recently, French Keplerk launched an advertising campaign on several television channels, including TF1, for its offer to buy bitcoins in tobacco shops.
France and Bitcoin
In October, the public bank Bpifrance supported the development of Bitcoin through an investment in At five, a French startup that focuses on the development of Lightning Network (an overlay to improve the scalability of Bitcoin).
Recently, Frenchman Napoleon AM launched the Napoleon Bitcoin Fund. A fund linked to future Bitcoin CME and dedicated to professional investors based in France.
Over 6000 ATM Bitcoin installed worldwide
According to data provider Coindance, it now has more than 6,000 bitcoin ATMs in service around the planet. This summer, we are already counting more than 5,000 machines, more than half of which are installed in the USA.
Note that the famous blockchain company Ripple invested in the maker of ATM Bitcoin CoinMe last October.
Bitcoin hacks
CipherTrace says cybercriminals stole over 4 billion euros in various cryptocurrencies during the first three quarters of 2019 and the digital coin with the largest market capitalization was not spared.
We can notably cite the piracy from one of the most famous stock exchanges in the sector, Binance. In May, hackers managed to siphon 7000 bitcoins, more than 35 million euros, on the platform.
Twitter CEO, Bitcoin evangelist
Support Bitcoin for several years, Jack dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and co-founder of Square, finally created the company Square Crypto this year. The startup works exclusively on the development of Bitcoin.
The American entrepreneur, who thinks Bitcoin could become the reference currency on the internet, will fly away Africa in 2020 for 3 to 6 months. According to him, it is on this continent that the future is taking shape, and in particular that of Bitcoin.
Transfers of millions of euros in bitcoins at low cost
This is nothing new, several large bitcoin holders have made transfers involving large amounts this year.
In May, we saw a whale move the sum of 189 million euros (40,000 BTC) for only 3.50 euros in fees.
In November, another whale paid only 0.29 euros to transfer 44,000 BTC.
Bitcoin among traders?
If several large companies, such as AT & T, started supporting crypto payments in 2019, Bitcoin is still struggling to find a place among tradespeople.
With crypto-payment providers, such as Bitpay, which instantly change tokens into currency-fiats, volatility are not really relevant anymore.
Besides the merchants’ disinterest, the first cryptocurrency on the market does not seem ready for this use because of the limits of its blockchain (Scalability). At the end of 2017, following the media circus around Bitcoin, it was observed that transactions could take up to 48 hours before being validated.
It is thus today more considered as: a speculative asset, a store of value for the ecosystem (stallion) or as an inexpensive way to perform important fund transfers internationally.
However, this could evolve with the development of the famous Lightning Network.
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