2016: Year of the BitCoin

2016 was an exciting year for everyone interested in the financial markets. We saw many shocks and surprises, largely a result from surprising political events – the continuing oil saga, Britain’s decision to exit the European Union, Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States, Italy’s referendum, and many, many other decisions that shaped the global economy of the past year. Perhaps the greatest surprise yet is that the best performing currency of 2016 is one that wasn’t doing so well in the past – the BitCoin. After two years of disappointing performance, it seems that the digital currency was able to make more than a full recovery in 2016 and currently sells for over $900, its best rate since 2013. You might ask: why now? Quite simply, the events we referred to above and many other developments during the past year or two have made the economic climates of many countries seem fickle and unstable. If there’s anything we learned in 2016, it’s that nothing is impossible, no matter how unlikely it might seem at first. This has lead to a general distrust on the markets towards most traditional trading instruments. The bitcoin, as the most popular digital, unregulated currency, is seen as something unique because it is not affected by the same problems that trouble other currencies. Investors are increasingly embracing the bitcoin (which used to be discarded as a one-day, or one-year, miracle) and the currency’s own standing in the trading industry has greatly improved. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission began treating bitcoin and other digital currencies as commodities in 2015. Compared to these, with a daily trading volume worth over $300 million, bitcoin has fared better than assets such as coffee, gold, soybeans, and even crude oil, according to Market Watch. By all accounts it seems that Bitcoin, as the most valuable cryptocurrency (indeed, there are others but none nearly as expensive), is the new safehaven for investors. Many market professionals have warmed up to the digital currency and we would likely see it grow in popularity in the future as the markets become more and more accustomed to it. We’d like to remind you that with SuperForex you can use BitCoin for deposits and withdrawals, and you can also trade on it as an instrument.