Renewed Korean Peninsula and South China Sea tensions pushed Bitcoin past $4,000, raising the hype for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.
That’s music in the ears of investors who purchased Bitcoins or shares in the Bitcoin Investment Trust at a fraction of today’s prices. The coins are up a whopping 780% for the year, while the Bitcoin Investment Trust shares are up 780% for the last nine months!
| Fund/ETF | 12-Month performance |
| Bitcoin | 780% |
| Bitcoin Investment Trust Shares (BTGC) | 1832 |
| SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) | 14.61 |
Source: Finance.yahoo.com 8/13/2017
Tensions in Asia boost the value of digital currency in a couple of ways.
To begin with, they raise the prospect of war, which undermines the demand for regional currencies like the yen, the yuan, and the won, and boosts demand for Bitcoin. Simply put, when the first missile flies, either intentionally or accidentally, investors would rather hold Bitcoin than any regional currency.
That could explain why Bitcoin trade in Asian currencies counts for most of the Bitcoin global trade volume. Bitcoin trade in Japanese yen accounted for close to 46 percent of global trade volume, up from about a third a day ago; trade in Chinese yuan and South Korean won accounted for about 12 percent each; and US-dollar bitcoin trade accounted for about 25 percent.
That’s according to CryptoCompare.
Also, tensions in Asia fuel equity market sell-offs, boosting demand for safe haven assets like US Treasuries gold, and, yes, Bitcoin -- the new hedge against global uncertainties.
A rise in international tensions compounds other factors which make digital currencies attractive. There’s a growing mistrust of national currencies, for example, following a number of government policies that have pushed more investors to Bitcoin. And there’s scarcity. Bitcoin supply is expected to be limited to 21 million. By contrast the supply of gold, tends to increase anytime its price rises, as that provides an incentive for gold miners to mine for gold.
Still, with high returns come high risks that can result in hefty losses. Especially for those investors who join in the game last stage, when the bubble turns into mania.
