A guest post from the Blockchain Industry Group (B.I.G.)
The cryptomarket experienced record adoption in 2017 as for the first-time in history; BTC was featured in the media alongside positive headlines. It was this change in public opinion that eventually pushed the original cryptocurrency from around a market value of $1000 a BTC in January, up to its record high just shy of $20,000 per BTC in late December.
These huge gains saturated headlines as everyone in the financial sector seemed to now have a new opinion on the cryptocurrency, despite most of them not understanding anything about blockchain technology or cryptocurrencies. All of this media attention helped BTC to gain further adoption globally and at one point the cryptomarket was showing a total market capitalization around $750 billion.
Last year saw swarms of personal investors enter the sector with success. The newfound fame helped push the development of the Altcoin market as well and currently, there are over 4000 different Altcoins available for your choosing. As BTC millionaires continued to drive the stock prices of Lamborghini up, businesses have started to take notice of these gains. This has led to a flood of traditional investment firms entering the marketplace either directly or indirectly; through the sale of BTC futures or other crypto services.
People-to-Business
Today, there is an ever-growing number of traditional investment platforms entering the cryptomarket. Three out of the top four stock exchanges in the USA already offer BTC futures to their clients. The popular trading platform Robin Hood also stepped into the sector earlier in the year. Robin Hood is a large stock trading platform that has recently integrated BTC purchases into their mobile platform. The company offers no fee BTC trading as well.
Companies from around the globe have also chosen to start investing into the cryptomarket via BTC or through their own ICO (Initial Coin Offering). Earlier in the year, the 100-year old camera company Kodak made headlines by becoming the first major corporation to offer an ICO. Investors were granted Kodak Coins for their investment. The ICO went off as a huge success and has spawned similar projects from large corporations around the globe.
Business-to-Government
There is no business bigger than government and as more businesses continue to enter the marketplace, there has also been the emergence of government-sponsored crypto projects. Venezuela was among the first countries to sponsor a state-backed cryptocurrency which was an oil-backed coin known as the Petro Coin.
The entire project was even launched via an ICO and while governments such as China have been involved in huge mining operations in the past, they had failed to take their involvement to the next level and create their own centralized cryptocurrency. Countries such as Russia, India, and Dubai have all announced their intentions to create cryptocurrencies in the future as well after the successful crowdfunding of the Petro Coin.
Traditional Funds Entering the Cryptomarket
This year the cryptomarket will see the entrance of major capital from all business sectors. Blockchain technology is quickly seeing adoption across all markets and blockchain-based startups are springing up every day to tackle the current logistical and security concerns faced by the global economy. It is no doubt that this year will see the cryptomarket reach new heights thanks to these whale investors.
What do you guys think? Will we continue to see huge corporations offer ICOs in the future?
By the Blockchain Industry Group (BIG)
The Blockchain Industry Group (BIG) is dedicated to promoting the adoption of blockchain technologies and digital currencies by actively collaborating with and promoting the efforts of our global blockchain community.
