At the start of December 2024 Bitcoin cracked the USD 100,000 barrier for the first time in the good 16 years since its launch. While the crypto currency was ultimately unable to end the year in six-figure territory, the value of the largest and oldest cyber currency has more than doubled over the last twelve months. Alongside the licensing of the first listed spot Bitcoin ETFs in the USA, it was also Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections that attracted buyers to the crypto market in 2024. The new man in the White House has recently become a fan of crypto and has already announced his intention to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet”. His plan includes the introduction of strategic Bitcoin reserves.
Devotees of cyber currencies would also like Switzerland to follow this example. A private committee has just launched a corresponding national campaign aimed at making the digital currency Bitcoin part of Switzerland's currency reserve. It would oblige the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to invest in Bitcoin. To be successful, the campaign needs 100,000 signatures in the first 18 months after publication. Should large central banks like the SNB or the Fed actually resort to digital coins, this would not only increase demand, but also fundamentally strengthen market confidence in the crypto industry.
There is already widespread confidence in the technology behind the crypto currencies: the blockchain. The blockchain sits alongside artificial intelligence among the most significant disruptive technologies of our age, and it is one that has an enormous impact on society and the economy. The blockchain uses what is known as the distributed ledger process to ensure the real-time, digital recording of transactions and ownership. The cryptographically linked blocks contain all the transaction data, which is not stored on a central server but instead shared decentrally across a network, making it impossible to modify. Should a member of the network add or remove data, for instance, this changes the information in all blocks, more or less precluding any opportunity for manipulation.
The blockchain was not invented purely for speculation with crypto currencies, however: the technology is also increasingly finding its way into the economy. Many companies are working on the development of a large number of distributed ledger solutions, including some in the healthcare sector. According to experts, manipulation-proof blockchain technology for creating and tracking unique digital product signatures could ensure that patients get real drugs rather than counterfeits. Blockchain-based applications can be used to eliminate the risk of fraud in the insurance industry, track supply chains in the retail sector from the original sources to the consumer's front door, and save time and money in the regulation of ownership when buying or selling property. Estimates from Fortune Business Insights put the global market size for blockchain technologies last year at no less than USDbn 27.8. The volume is set to rise to USDbn 825.9 by 2030, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of a massive 52.8%.
Source: Fortune Business Insights
