CEO of Digital Currency Group: 10 major development trends of Bitcoin in 2017

Barry Silbert, a well-known Bitcoin investor, recently shared the top ten trends in Bitcoin development in the coming year. He believes that the price of Bitcoin will continue to rise in 2017.

Diverse applications of Bitcoin and blockchain

Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group (DCG), made his predictions for the digital currency in 2017 at DCG’s annual Bitcoin and Blockchain Summit.

In general, DCG is very confident that Bitcoin and its underlying blockchain technology can be used in areas such as trade finance, supply chain, identity authentication, cross-border payments and investment.

Silbert's top 10 predictions

10. Bitcoin’s value preservation function has once again become the focus

Bitcoin’s title of “digital gold” is not groundless. Silbert predicts that in 2017, more traditional investors will begin to recognize the value of Bitcoin and include it in their investment portfolios.

9. With ETFs, it is easier for retail and institutional investors to obtain Bitcoin

ETFs can bring more institutional investors to the Bitcoin market. Silbert's Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) and SolidX's Bitcoin Trust Fund (XBTC) have successfully narrowed the distance between traditional investors and Bitcoin, and ETFs with higher participation are expected to completely eliminate the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance.

8. Bitcoin cross-border payments or transfers can reach $1 billion

Remittance is one of the most promising use cases for Bitcoin. Compared with traditional service providers, Bitcoin transfers are cheaper and faster. As the cost of smartphone technology continues to fall around the world and Bitcoin infrastructure continues to improve, its application in the field of remittance is likely to threaten the position of traditional industry giants such as Western Union.

7. The number of Bitcoin transactions in India, Japan and the Middle East has increased rapidly

Since the birth of Bitcoin, its global transaction volume has been on a steady upward trend. In countries such as India that focus on high-tech, mobile commerce is developing rapidly, and Bitcoin has been increasingly used in these countries recently.

6. Blockchain and supply chain management proof-of-concept projects are exploding

Blockchain technology has already penetrated all walks of life. The areas that have benefited the most from blockchain technology are arguably supply chains and international trade. In fact, the industry has already begun testing and deploying blockchain technology. For example, IBM and Tsinghua University announced a partnership to use the technology for supply chain management and improve food quality.

5. The competition between blockchain and identity management is getting fiercer… but it’s still unclear which one is better

The application of Bitcoin blockchain in the field of identity authentication is always sensitive. But the involvement of blockchain can indeed solve many practical problems. There are at least millions of people in the world who do not have legal identity documents, and the blockchain system can register their identity information. Due to the transparency of the blockchain, relevant departments can verify their identities at any time. The United Nations (UN) also hopes to develop a similar system.

4. SEC strengthens supervision of ICOs

It is clear that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun to pay attention to Bitcoin. Some people believe that the SEC's next target is ICOs. The SEC may regard the tokens issued by ICOs as securities and regulate them. Despite this, many cryptocurrency ICO organizers and participants have ignored this warning and are willing to take their own risks.

3. The first M&A deal worth over $50 million is about to happen

There are many cases of M&A deals in the Bitcoin space exceeding $1 million. Therefore, it is not impossible for M&A deals to exceed $50 million - especially in the initial stages of cryptocurrency development and maturity.

2. Micropayments become a reality

Bitcoin micropayment solutions have been successfully deployed in browsers, data storage devices, social media platforms, and more. Eventually, micropayments will allow Bitcoin transactions to be sent directly over the Internet. By removing intermediaries, micropayments can revolutionize the advertising revenue model and pay content creators and consumers directly.

1. Bitcoin prices continue to rise

Silbert has always been very optimistic about the market of Bitcoin. From the excellent performance of Bitcoin in the past few years, it can be seen that even if its price cannot soar to the moon, it will definitely continue to rise.

Finally, DCG added that it is not currently buying into some cutting-edge technologies, such as ETH (Ethereum fork), smart contracts, DAO, and ICO, because these technologies cannot provide viable real-world use cases. Therefore, DCG believes that the failure of DAO is expected.

Barry Silbert and DCG

Silbert is the Entrepreneur of the Year selected by EY and Crain's American communications company, and is also a finalist for Fortune magazine's "40 Most Influential People Under 40". More importantly, he is also a prominent investor in the Bitcoin field. He has injected millions of dollars into Bitcoin startups such as Coinbase, Ripple, and BitPay. His DCG also includes Grayscale Investments, Genesis Global Trading, CoinDesk and other companies, and has invested in more than 80 projects in 20 countries.