The value of all cryptocurrency transactions will fall sharply this year to just over $30 billion, compared with $71 billion in 2014, a new report from Juniper Research has predicted.
The analysis noted that this decline was attributable to the combined impact of exchange collapses, Bitcoin theft, and regulatory concerns around the role of cryptocurrency in funding dark web purchases.
I don't think these things will have an impact on transactions. Current users aren't really scared off by these things. It's been a sluggish start to the year but it'll hopefully pick up.
However, the report also argued that the introduction of licensed, regulated exchanges could lead to a stabilisation in currency values, and with it an increase in retail transaction adoption.
Hmm. I'm all for stabilization but I hope it rises a little before it does. Price is too low at the moment and is hurting the miners the most.
Although companies such as PayPal have started to allow US consumers to purchase digital goods via Bitcoin, Juniper noted: “The scale of the challenge facing Bitcoin is so great that it will struggle to gain traction beyond a tech-savvy and/or libertarian demographic.”
Probably could say the same about personal computers and the beginning of the internet. Adoption will be slow but it'll grow larger over time.