Bitcoin has been making headlines since it started climbing up the price charts with the development of its underlying blockchain as a viable technology. Since then, thousands of would-be investors were lining up to buy Bitcoins in an attempt at getting rich. Some tried to mine the coveted coins, others rushed to buy up on lows, while others simply compiled portfolios of assets and sat on them in expectation of price increases. Time has shown that all three options were viable for their respective times, as no single method to make quick money on Bitcoin has yet been found.
In fact, there is hardly any easy money to be made in the cryptocurrency market, since all the glitz and glamor that is being displayed on social network profile pages of so-called crypto millionaires is just a veneer. The reality of crypto wealth is vague and ethereal. Any moment can spell the doom of millions in crypto assets as prices tumble and demand for any specific cryptocurrency grinds to a halt. It is all part of what experts call a bubble, or a pyramid scheme aimed at enrichment via speculation. True, speculation does play a colossal role in all cryptocurrency market operations, but it is also present on stock markets and foreign exchange trading. The fact of the matter is that market heavyweights are responsible for most price movements and they will end up the beneficiaries of any speculative action.
Those who believe that have the guts and know-how to trade Bitcoin have to think very well before ever venturing into the cryptocurrency space. Any former knowledge of trading or business will be of little use in this extremely risky environment that perverts any way to make money the traditional way into a mirror image painted over by nuances and peculiarities that are specific only to the cryptocurrency market. Most importantly, the price of Bitcoin makes it a restrictive asset to buy, meaning that very few investors will have the capital to afford it. And even though Bitcoin has lost up to two thirds of its value during the most recent crypto winter, paying in excess of twenty thousand dollars for a digital asset is overkill for most retail investors.
Despite the high prices and risks, many would-be investors are looking for ways to buy crypto cheaply. More adventurous and deluded ones are even convinced that there are ways to win money and even Bitcoin. Certainly, some promotions were held during the ICO craze and some lucky winners were noted, like the winners of utility bill payments in the UK. However, cryptocurrency market realities are such that few have the ability to earn anything without much hard work and toil.
Best Way to Buy Bitcoin
Among the best ways to buy Bitcoin are the traditional approaches that have been known on the market for years. There is little innovation in terms of the instruments and platforms that allow such operations to be carried out, as exchanges have dwindled in number, consumed by their larger competitors, or gone bankrupt due to fraud, hacks, and basic lack of liquidity. The ones that survived have swelled into immense ecosystems, offering anything from native wallets and Non-Fungible Token collection showcases to Web3 access keys and blockchain-based gaming venues.
Exchanges like Binance give their users enough incentive to remain engaged in the platform while providing a reliable way to buy Ethereum or any other cryptocurrency. Users are always eager to find the best way to trade, and such exchanges give ample instruments and interface convenience to ensure user bootstrapping in the long term. With so much on offer, one would think that the exchange is the go-to solution for all Bitcoin and crypto purchasing needs. However, that is not quite so, as there are other ways to invest in Bitcoin through:
- Peer-to-Peer platforms;
- Exchangers;
- Decentralized exchanges;
- Bitcoin faucets.
The P2P platform has emerged once again as the best way to buy cryptocurrency since the failure of centralized exchanges. P2P platforms were the original form of cryptocurrency exchange when Bitcoin emerged onto the scene. These platforms give users the chance to resort to the site as a trading arena and interact directly without any intermediaries. The platform simply acts as a hub for linking buyers and sellers, and for providing guarantees of execution of the transaction under the terms stipulated by the parties. Some P2P platforms even offer escrow services, meaning that they can ensure the execution of the smart contract by keeping the funds reserved until the terms are met.
Buying Bitcoin – What For?
Since the image of Bitcoin as a coveted asset is not going anywhere anytime soon, one has to ask themselves if the asset is actually worth it. If looked at from an investment perspective, Bitcoin is a digital asset that has absolutely no practical application in the real world, apart from being used as a means of payment in a limited list of retail outlets, but even that will require special software and bank cards. Apart from that, Bitcoin is merely a hash in the blockchain – a record in a digital ledger that draws its price from its speculative nature as an instrument for trading.
Some believe that the best way to invest in Bitcoin is keeping it in a cold wallet until the asset rises in price. True, Bitcoin is extremely volatile and its price hikes have surpassed anything in financial history. Even gold cannot compete with Bitcoin in terms of volatility. However, unlike Bitcoin, gold is a commodity that will never lose its base value, even though it can depreciate slightly. Gold is universal tender and is non-perishable, unlike Bitcoin, which relies entirely on the Internet and online connectivity to be of any use. Without an internet connection, no holder of Bitcoin can make use of their assets as a means of payment anywhere.
Some believe that the best way to buy Bitcoin is in the UK, since the country has been at the forefront of capitalist support. Not entirely true, as the United Kingdom does not have any tentative legislation regarding cryptocurrency assets and the situation in the country’s economy is leaving much to be desired. As such, demand for Bitcoin in the UK is low, and prices for the asset on the exchanges operating in the country will be the same on any other exchange in the world.
There is an interesting fact, however. Bitcoin is in extremely high demand in some countries of Africa, like Nigeria. Prices for the asset on local exchanges are substantially higher than on analogous exchanges in other countries. This proves that the law of supply and demand is at play on the cryptocurrency market and the amount of Bitcoins in circulation will have a direct impact on its price. The latest crypto winter has seen the disappearance of most freely circulating Bitcoins from exchanges as major investors took advantage of the price drop and accumulated large amounts of the asset on their wallets. The result of such a siphoning of Bitcoins was the slight price increase of the asset in the beginning of 2023, which gave enough hope to investors that the market will be entering a bull run phase later during the year.
Bitcoin Or Not – Outlook For 2023
The year 2023 inherited the worst traits of its catastrophic predecessor. The general geopolitical instability resulting from local conflicts and enmity between the world’s hemispheres reflected in the worst possible way on the global economy. It is absolutely no secret to anyone anymore that the old world order is collapsing and the dominance of the United States Dollar is coming to an end, as evidenced by the growing transition of many countries to cross-border settlements in national currencies. Such developments are not having a negative impact on the global economy, but are raising the level of fear among investors who are unwilling, or too fearful, to abandon the old model of investing they were used to. It will take time before the investors and stock markets readjust to the new model of a multipolar world, and the global economy will incur many more losses until such time.
Needless to say, the cryptocurrency market is being directly affected by the developments in the global economy. An important trait that has been singled out, which is not acting in favor of the cryptocurrency industry, is that it is a development of the so-called post-industrial economy. The latter concept states that the modern world no longer needs industries and production and all market investments will be made in high tech digital products and services. The Covid-19 pandemic proved that the post-industrial economy is doomed to failure, as any sound-minded person will realize that the world cannot exist without production. Digital blockchain-based applications will not save patients, nor will they be able to replace the extraction and production of foodstuffs, commodities, consumer goods, and the myriad products people need.
As such, it is clear that the cryptocurrency market is a secondary economy, one that takes on a back seat when the world is transitioning back into an industrialized state and is deviating from globalization towards nationalization. With nations striving for self-sufficiency in light of the draconic sanctions regimes and complete lawlessness that has engulfed the failing and corrupt international legal framework developed by the United States, the cryptocurrency market is being disregarded as one that can wait for attention until such time when more pressing needs are met.
It is already clear that 2023 will not see a revival of cryptocurrency exchange rates and is likely to witness the collapse of many more players. The catastrophes of 2022, such as Terra/Luna, the FTX disaster, and many others, have all made it abundantly clear that the cryptocurrency market is corrupt and the players who had been leading it are outright criminals. With such a state of affairs, many analysts and experts believe that the full dismantling of the cryptocurrency market’s remaining infrastructure and complete overhaul is the only way to ensure a revival of rates. In order to rebuild and regain user trust, the hotspots of speculation, corruption and fraud have to be eliminated and replaced with transparent, fully decentralized alternatives.
Conclusion
In light of such projections, we can expect that Bitcoin will remain within its current price range throughout 2023. There is a chance of a slight price increase by the end of the year, or earlier, if the necessary conditions are met. Among those are the resolution of global conflicts, the development of new technological innovations within the blockchain sector, or the entrance of major players into the blockchain space. Though some analysts have stated that the development of the market is entirely dependent on Bitcoin’s behavior, there are enough grounds to believe that Bitcoin may soon lose its leading position as Ethereum, USDT, and more accessible assets become instruments of choice for an army of new retail investors.
