The bitcoin competes with gold

Analysts of Juniper Research claim that the amount of transactions about bitcoin for 2016 can exceed result of last year three times. Gold always was a reliable asset, but in the next 10 years it will have a cryptoalternative, The Wall Street Journal writes

The youth invests in cryptocurrency as it trusts technologies more, than to the Central Banks, The Wall Street Journal writes. Its cost since the beginning of year has flown up for 50%, gold has risen in price for this period for 28%.

As Kanishka Sukumar, the 24-year-old consultant from Manhattan tells, his parents store savings in gold — for them it is the most reliable asset. He invested nearly a third of savings in bitcoin as the cryptocurrency can protect an investment portfolio during tough financial times.

The CoinDesk edition specializing in information on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has interrogated 3,5 thousand holders of bitcoins why they buy virtual money. The most popular answer — in the investment purposes, but every fifth participant has explained that he buys cryptocurrency as does not want that banks or the government controlled its money.

Popularity of bitcoin is connected with the speed of the conclusion of transactions and their anonymity. In 2015 the number bitcoin purses was doubled, having exceeded, according to CoinDesk, 12 million. The cryptocurrency was also fallen in love by the traders earning on volatile assets. NYSE have an index of bitcoin, CME Group where derivatives are traded, develops a spot index on the bitcoin price.

In Russia the bitcoin has appeared under a ban — under the law only the Central Bank of the Russian Federation can issue money, and it is possible pay for goods and services only with rubles. Recently the president of Sberbank German Gref has publicly expressed a regret on the fact that "the cryptocurrency at us has died, without having been born". Earlier the head of Sberbank declared that entering in Russia of criminal liability for an exchange of bitcoins will lead to a stop of development of the perspective Blockchain technology and to regress in general.

Many bankers in the Russian Federation consider the Blockchain technology perspective. It is a data storage method: such system is used as base of information on transactions with cryptocurrencies. Benefits of technology are obvious: it is impossible to insert into Blockchain self-willedally the new block of data in any place, they are added only in the order established by rules, and anyone can make check of transactions.

The technology can be also implemented in banking activity: the cryptotechnology allows to reduce strongly time for carrying out large deals — issuance of credits, stock trading and so on. According to the Spanish investment fund Santander InnoVentures, thanks to Blockchain investors will save up about 20 billion dollars a year due to reducing the accompanying intermediary and standard costs when carrying out financial transactions.

Interest in the Blockchain technology considerably grows in Russia. About it, for example, it is possible to judge by requests in the searcher of "Yandex". According to data of the Wordstat.yandex.ru service, in a year the amount of requests of Blockchain has increased almost ten times. Interest both in cryptocurrencies, and in platforms on which they can be traded grows. For example, one of the exchanges working by the principle "without intermediaries" at which transactions are performed between physical persons E-DINAR issues own cryptocurrency of E-DINAR Coin. It is possible to trace trading volumes and its capitalization by means of the Coinmarket service. On the same resource it is possible to find also a rating of cryptocurrencies.

Gold is considered the reliable asset keeping cost it is better, than paper money. But during the Greek crisis last summer investors were put both in gold, and in bitcoins, traders and representatives of the exchanges of bitcoins tell. That transactions about bitcoin will treble, it is told in the research Juniper Research. Analysts have come to a conclusion that this year the amount of transactions in cryptocurrency will exceed 92 billion US dollars. Last year it has constituted 27 billion dollars.

"With growth of popularity of cryptocurrencies we will replace with them investments in gold" — the director of investments of Horizon Kinetics Murray Stal says. Horizon Kinetics already owns shares of Bitcoin Investment Trust — the first public investment fund of bitcoins. By words Stal, investments of Horizon Kinetics funds into bitcoins constitute 0,5–1% of a portfolio in comparison with 3–4% of investments into gold. In his opinion, in the next ten years for gold the cryptoalternative will appear.