Flashback to 2017 and most crypto-traders can probably relate to the incessant pump and dumps by whale groups. 2017 was a great year not only for day traders but also the crypto-market for it brought Bitcoin into the limelight. Fast forward to 2018, Bitcoin is almost 70% down from its all-time high of 20,000 USD. Price volatility is an inherent consequence of uncertainty and the hype around blockchain has most certainly amplified the uncertainty.

Can blockchain really remove intermediaries? Can blockchain reduce cross-border transaction time to seconds? Can it reduce transaction fees to a matter of cents? Blockchain painted a near-utopian scenario which none of us have ever thought of, that is, until the advent of Bitcoin in 2008. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto presented the possibility of transacting between individuals in a decentralized network. However, the price of Bitcoin, or cryptocurrencies in general, have remained depressed amidst a thriving blockchain industry. This begs a question: What is so good about Bitcoin?

Bitcoin: Money or Currency?

First off, we have to define and contrast money and currency. Currency serve as a medium of exchange, unit of account, be portable, durable, divisible and fungible (mutually interchangeable). Money encompasses all of the above, in addition to being a store of value. Store of value refers to the fact that an asset can maintain its value over time and this is usually attributed by its scarcity in the market. Gold is a great example of money as it has maintained its purchasing power over the decades. Gold has remained so popular over thousand of years is due to its limited supply as well as our fascination with its appearance; its practical applications are rather limited.

Source: iGold, Bullion Management Group Inc

“With an ounce of gold a man could buy a fine suit of clothes in the time of Shakespeare, in that of Beethoven and Jefferson, in the Depression of the 1930s.”

Fiat (Latin for “let it be done”) currencies are currencies which are backed by nothing more than trust in the government. In fact, the U.S. currency used to be backed by gold, that is, until August 1971 when U.S. President Richard Nixon announced that the U.S. dollar will no longer be redeemable in gold. Known as the Nixon Shock, the decoupling of U.S. dollar from the gold standard effectively ended the Bretton Woods Agreement and led to the creation of fiat currencies.

Due to the loose definition of ‘store of value’, there have been debate as to whether fiat currencies count as money. While it is true that most currencies have maintained their value over the years, statistics have told us that all fiat currency will eventually return to their intrinsic value of zero; USD will be no exception. The U.S. dollar has already lost 95% of its purchasing power since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The Venezuelan Bolivar Fuerte is an extreme case which I will elaborate more later on.

So, what is Bitcoin? By economics definition, it is a currency. In fact, it is the best form of currency till date. The ability to conduct cross-border transactions in a fast, cheap, anonymous and immutable way have trumped any form of currency that mankind has invented. However, Bitcoin is a very poor form of money given that its price volatility has made it a poor store of value. For now, we shall not dwell on the semantics.

Bitcoin’s Proof of Concept: Venezuela

Venezuelans turning their ‘worthless’ currency into bags which are worth more.

The collapse of Venezuela’s monetary system has provided a golden opportunity for cryptocurrency to showcase its advantages over fiat currency. Every day, Venezuelans live in fear as they wonder how much their money is worth at the end of each day. With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicting Venezuela to hit 1,000,000% inflation by December 2018, Bitcoin has become a popular payment method and investment asset due to its decentralized nature, portability and anonymity. Just a year ago, 1 BTC could be bought for 34,000 Venezuela’s Bolivar Fuerte (VEF). Bitcoin peaked at 1.3 billion VEF in August 2018. Meanwhile, Dash has gained rapid adoption in the country with over 500 merchants adopting the cryptocurrency. Dash is seen as a better version of Bitcoin with the added features of masternodes, instant transactions and decentralized governance

However, the government hasn’t been supportive of the crypto-market, deeming it a direct threat to the government regime and control over the hyperinflated economy. Ironically, to reel in on the crypto-craze, the government of Venezuela has launched its own cryptocurrency, Petro. Intended to supplement its Venezuela’s Bolivar Fuerte currency and help overcome US sanctions, Petro is claimed to be backed by the country’s oil and mineral reserves. However, Petro has received worldwide criticism for its poor implementation and shady figures.

“ It’s become a trusted alternative when fiat money’s value is corrupted by politics” -John McGinnis and Kyle Roche of Wall Street Journal

Venezuela gave us a sneak peek into a country that has to a certain degree, embraced cryptocurrency as a form of payment. While it remains to be seen how cryptocurrency will play out in Venezuela over the long term, it is without a doubt that Bitcoin has served its intended purpose as “a peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution” as outlined in the Bitcoin whitepaper.

Million Dollar Bitcoin: A Game of Demand and Supply

Given a fixed supply, any increase in demand will lead to a increase in price.

Given a fixed supply, when demand increases, price will increase. Demand will only increase with price stability and a shift in perspective in two areas: Bitcoin as a form of currency and as an investment asset With more merchants accepting cryptocurrencies, we will undoubtedly see an increase in demand among consumers for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, Bitcoin has been dubbed by many as digital gold and is seen as a great hedge against the government and financial systems. At the Upfront Summit 2018, Fundstrat Global’s co-founder Thomas Lee describes Bitcoin as the Holy Grail of portfolio allocation, citing its falling correlation with the stock and bond market and its inverse relationship with gold. However, it is shunned by many retail and institutional investors due to its price volatility.