Rapid Adoption of Bitcoin

Mainstream Media, Institutional Investors, Merchants

Bitcoin price has surpassed the $4,000mark and achieved its new all-time high at$4,419 in global average. The upward momentum of bitcoin price and increasing adoption from institutional investors have led to increasing mainstream coverage from networks like the Wall Street Journal, that have served the traditional finance sector over the past few decades.

Since early 2017, as major investment banks and firms including Fidelity, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan started to adopt and embrace bitcoin, mainstream media networks have begun to offer extensive coverage on bitcoin alongside precious metals such as gold and reserve currencies like the US dollar and the Chinese yuan.

In within 8 months, the bitcoin andcryptocurrency markets have matured significantly, with the cryptocurrency market cap increasing from around $10 to$140 billion. More importantly, the daily trading volume of bitcoin is closing on the $3 billion mark. Such rapid increase in the trading volume of bitcoin has demonstrated drastic improvement in bitcoin’s liquidity, which analysts including CNBC’s Brian Kelly emphasized as a key factor towards facilitating the rising demand from institutional investors.

For mainstream media companies like the Wall Street Journal and financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, it has become increasingly difficult to ignore the cryptocurrency market due to its market cap and exponential growth. In fact, in a note to its investors, clients and portfolio managers, Goldman Sachs stated thatbitcoin can no longer be disregarded.

“Whether or not you believe in the merit of investing incryptocurrencies (you know who you are), real dollars are at work here and warrant watching,” said Goldman Sachs analysts Robert Doroujerdi and Jessica Binder Graham.

Goldman Sachs also told its investors that the cryptocurrency market has grown to a point wherein investors that do not understand the technical intricacies of cryptocurrencies should still consider investing in the market due to its sheer rate of growth.

“The debate has shifted from the legitimacy of the ‘fiat of the Internet’ to how fast new entrants are raising funds. Whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are) real dollars are at work here and warrant watching especially in light of the growing world of initialcoin offerings (ICOs) and fundraising that now exceeds Internet Angel and Seed investing,” said Goldman Sachs.

As major financial institutions including theChicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and leading bitcoin companies such as the$1.6 billion bitcoin wallet and trading platform Coinbase continue to target institutional and retail investors,mainstream adoption of bitcoin will continue to increase at a rapid rate.

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