The main reason why Bitcoin is still a “thing” has little to do with payments. What’s pushed it to new stratospheric highs is its embrace by mainstream finance as a supercharged alternative to stocks, bonds, real estate and gold. A growing list of “Bitcoin millionaires” has made others hungry for some of the action, putting investment advisers under pressure to offer their clients some exposure to the digital token. Big financial institutions are now offering Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, marketing them as a tool for investors to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation risk.
When Bitcoin broke into the public consciousness in 2013, the idea behind it quickly captured people’s imagination: a digital currency for instant, anonymous payments that dispenses with the need for a bank. Its price surged that year, from around US$13 ($16.64) to US$747.
Twelve years on, the world’s best-known cryptocurrency has topped US$120,000. Tens of thousands of personal fortunes have been made (and some lost) along the way. But for all the talk of Bitcoin going mainstream, it’s never really threatened to displace regular currencies as a way to pay for groceries, buy a car, or even send money across borders — a business arguably ripe for disruption given the significant fees involved.
