In this article, we will explore key statistics, data & facts when it comes to buying Bitcoin over the last few years, along with some key legality trends.
Usage & Volume – Buying Trends for Bitcoin
This is clearly illustrated by the second graph showing how the USD value of traded Bitcoin did indeed skyrocket in the final months of 2017.
The politics of bitcoin can be very complicated. In fact, many countries have seemingly contradictory policies when it comes to Bitcoin. Furthermore, this is a rapidly evolving field, where opinions can quickly change. In the long run, as Bitcoin and other cryptos become more and more established, it is likely that more countries on this heatmap will turn green. As cryptocurrencies become more and more widely adopted, skeptical governments will presumably warm to the idea and relax legal issues around cryptocurrencies.
The data shows how the popularity of particular exchanges have shifted over the past few years as the cryptocurrency industry has grown and matured. It may come as a surprise to see that trading volume was far higher in 2016 than any other year. Bitcoin’s bull run in 2017 catapulted it into the public eye and piqued a lot of investors’ interests – so you may have expected 2017 to have seen the highest volume of trading of Bitcoin. However, it is important to remember that this data covers the volume of bitcoin traded. So, as bitcoin’s value exploded it meant that far fewer bitcoins were being traded (because a single bitcoin was now so valuable that the number of dollars needed to buy just one limited overall trading volume). Also, it is worth pointing out that a huge chunk of the volume in 2016 is coming from China, where bitcoin mining is very popular. However, changes in the legality of bitcoin within China may also have contributed to the drop off in exchange volume after 2016. As of September 2017, the Chinese government began enforcing a comprehensive ban on trading any cryptocurrency. This surely will have impacted global bitcoin trading volumes.
We can clearly see that some very wealthy individuals still have faith in Bitcoin as a store of value, and the data below shows us the level of distribution across Bitcoin’s biggest backers.
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