The economy globally has continued its strong uptick throughout 2017, partially spurred on by very low interest rates and massive investment into various markets. However, according to Deutsche Bank Chief International Economist Torsten Slok, the major risks for the global economy in 2018 include a crash of Bitcoin.

Slok sees huge potential for volatility in the price of the cryptocurrency, as do other economists, and has indicated that the price may even see huge changes before the close of the current year. His main concerns include regulation, transparency, and disclosure, as well as volatility drifting into the overall market. He said:

"It's mainly because it (Bitcoin price volatility) is something that I think financial markets so far have been discounting as a small issue," Slok said. "We do worry a bit that it could become more systemic, in particular, if the current trends continue into 2018.”

One of many

While Bitcoin presents a potential risk for the market going forward, a multitude of other risks may well take down the economy first. Of particular concern are Brexit developments, US inflation rates, North Korea’s nuclear testing plans, and a potential housing bubble in Sweden or Norway.

Of course crypto fanatics would argue that Bitcoin actually hedges against all these other market risks, since it represents a non-fiat connected asset that is not prone to inflationary pressures or market fluctuations brought on by national reserve banks. By internal monetary manipulation, centralized entities produce greater risks.

For example, Mike Costache, an advisor of Hdac says: