Is Bitcoin a bubble? If you’re investing in blockchain does it really matter?

Bitcoin may well be a bubble. But, it is definitely not sound proof. Everyday, bitcoin and/or blockchain related spam clogs up my inbox a little bit more than the day before.

The cryptocurrency market is nothing if not noisy.

Such is the conjecture, if you’ve done nothing more than parse the daily headline you’re likely confused.

Like any complex and nuanced contemporary topic, we can quickly snap our opinion into binary mode – the cryptocurrency business is either A) a bubble and probably a scam or B) it’s a financial revolution that will save capitalism. Review the daily press clippings, you’ll find plenty of headlines for both teams.

Thursday’s representation from Team A, for example, says 82% of institutional investors in the United Kingdom see Bitcoin as “an unsustainable bubble”.

A Natixis conducted survey of managers of pension funds, insurance companies, and endowments ranked the Bitcoin ‘bubble’ ahead of all other concerns. It is, apparently, worrying more investors than either traditional market volatility or interest rate rises.

Meanwhile, one of the world’s major stock exchanges has decided replace its existing trade settlement system for a new blockchain based one.

The ASX is ditching its CHESS (clearing house electronic subregister system) in favour of a ‘next generation’ platform that’s been developed by ledger technology firm Digital Asset.

“After so much hype surrounding distributed ledger technology, today’s announcement delivers the first meaningful proof that the technology can live up to its potential,” said Blythe Masters, Digital Asset chief executive.

“Together, DA and our client ASX have shown that the technology not only works, but can meet the requirements of mission critical financial infrastructure.”

So, how do these stories reconcile? Unfortunately, for some, this really does involve some duality.

Put simply, Bitcoin could quite easily be an increasingly overblown bubble – one that could go pop, or perhaps even disappear.

But, the technology upon which the rampantly traded cryptocurrency is built really could be a lasting revolution – facilitating cryptocurrency exchanges is only one of the uses for blockchain technology.

As an interesting albeit speculative side-note to the ASX news is that Blythe Masters is among the names said to be in the hat for the top job at the London Stock Exchange, which puts an intriguing subtext to the story – particularly the folks at the London Clearing House.

Seemingly, we’re all going to be hearing much more about Bitcoin and blockchain for some time to come.

Story by ProactiveInvestors