After A Difficult 2014, Bitcoin Hopes For A Brighter New Year

Bitcoin spiked to north of $1,000 in late 2013, before starting a long decline in the current year. After some optimistic fluctuation, it has landed in a mid-$300 trading range that the virtual currency can’t seem to shake.
Gone, for now it seems, are the go-go days of bitcoin heading straight north.
All in our heads
We were but babes in the bitcoin woods at the turn of the last decade. Not much was known, and wild speculation in the cyrptocurrency helped develop its very own folklore.
Stories abounded of overnight bitcoin millionaires. Prices shot up, and many bemoaned that they did not invest when bitcoin was a mere $13 back at the end of 2012. The Winklevoss twins, owners of an exchange-traded fund in bitcoin, predicted that the price of bitcoin could one day rise to $40,000, a price that would represent a towering $400 billion USD market cap.
WordPress began accepting the currency in late 2012. Dell, Overstock.com and others joined in support, albeit through partner services. Startups and accelerators began to focus solely on the bitcoin ecosystem. One man and his new wife pledged to live on bitcoin for the first three months of their marriage.
It felt like all bitcoin, all the time. Pony up, or lose big. It didn’t quite last.

This post was published at Tech Crunch on December 16, 2014.

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