Sidhartha ShuklaMoneycontrol NewsAfter being the top performing 'currency' in 2016, Bitcoin has rallied to all-time highs and is trading at around levels of USD 1220 on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.The volatile currency, which fell from a high of over USD 1,100 to below USD 800 in January, has been enjoying its longest stretch above USD 1,000 since its inception back in 2008.The currency has gained steam on the hopes that American entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss will receive a green signal from the US government to create the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).If they succeed, this could pave the way for similar launches and will also strengthen the acceptability of the digital currency, which could push prices further.It could also become the template for market regulators in other countries to similarly allow ETF listings.Right now the market seems to not factor in chances of a possible failure to the twins application for an ETF.As per a report by CoinDesk investor and serial entrepreneur Vinny Lingham and Spencer Bogart, former analyst with investment bank Needham & Co LLC, both are not much optimistic on the ETF approval.Lingham sees a 10-15 percent approval chance and Bogart sees less than 25 percent of odds in favour of the ETF.“A contract created by Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, to bet on the possibility of approval of the Winklevoss ETF, showed favorable odds of only 34 percent on Monday,” a Bloomberg report said.Saurabh Agrawal, CEO and Co-founder, Zebpay, told Moneycontrol News conceded that while chances of the approval were low, a favourable decision would be a milestone for the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.

"We may see Bitcoin prices touching USD 1500 very soon.”He said that if the ETF is not approved/postponed, there will be a minor correction in prices -- consolidation towards the USD 1000-1100 level -- but added that it would remain largely rangebound for a couple of weeks.Volatility remains a major concern for serious long-term investors even as price fluctuations also allow speculators to try and make money off it.As per the Bitcoin volatility index, its 30-day volatility against the US dollar (measured by standard deviation) has come down to 2.25 percent from levels of 16.11 percent back in 2011.most powerful bitcoin minerBut the currency has not able to sustain low volatility levels over a long period of time.For comparison, the volatility of gold averages around 1.2 percent, while other major currencies average between 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent.At the moment Bitcoin is used more as a speculative asset and not as a medium of exchange like fiat currencies.“A very volatile price of the currency (exchange rate) does not enhance confidence and acceptability but will rather attract speculators and further increase price volatility,” a report by SWIFT Institute said.Unless it is used as a currency to pay for goods and services, it won’t be able to compete with the US dollar or any other stable currency for that matter.The investment risk of bitcons against other asset classes remains quite significantly high.ethereum nem

Crude oil and bonds are the only other instruments that have come near to the investment risk of Bitcoin.While the Reserve Bank of India is upbeat on reaping benefits from blockchain, the underlying software that empowers digital currency, it remains highly pessimistic on Bitcoin.Yesterday at an event RBI deputy governor Rama Subramaniam Gandhi said, "Blockchain, the foundation for bitcoins-like innovations, is touted to be the death knell of currency.bitcoin core vs classicI believe its potential is being overstated.yellow bitcoin pillWe can see that in these types of solutions for virtual currency, there is no central bank or monetary authority.convert 1 bitcoin to sekThey pose potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks."Thebitcoin dinero virtual

central bank has warned consumers about the risk investing in Bitcoin pose and had said that those putting money in virtual currencies are exposing themselves to potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks.In order to help people understand about virtual currencies and self-regulate the industry, Bitcoin startups Zebpay, Unocoin, Coinsecure and Searchtrade have launched Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India (DABFI) and aim seeks to work alongside regulators to bring more clarity and credibility to cryptocurrencies.buy bitcoin with itunes gift cardGold bugs everywhere lost some luster today when bitcoin broke parity with gold in USD terms.revista bitcoin brasilInterestingly, gold, as an element, had many advantages over other possibilities as a use for currency.bitcoin group on telegram

Arguably, Bitcoin, with its secure network and utility, is a better version of gold for today’s digital age.The psychological resistance of gold price and bitcoin price parity has long been held among many traders, especially those who trade legacy FOREX markets.It is also a metric frequently touted in popular media.Could a digital asset really ever be worth more than a physical one that has withstood the test of time?Let’s take a look at a few charts:Even before January, bitcoin had made large gains on the price of gold, closing the parity gap very quickly over recent months as gold remained in a sideways range.The index currently shows the price sitting at near parity.Teasing that apart further, we can see two things: BTC-USD has made a clean break above XAU-USD, and BTC-CNY remains below XAU-CNY.4h BTC-USD — Coinbase vs.XAU-USD4h BTC-CNY — OKCoin vs.XAU-CNYIn January, when BTC-CNY broke gold parity, BTC-USD did not.This was largely because of the greater demand in BTC-CNY versus BTC-USD.

The exact opposite can be said for current market conditions.Bitcoin’s price is being driven by USD demand, thus BTC-USD has broken gold parity, whereas BTC-CNY has not.In my opinion, gold parity will not truly be broken until the index of both BTC-USD and BTC-CNY are above their respective gold prices.The current dichotomy suggests that, just as BTC-CNY was overbought in January when it broke gold parity, BTC-USD is likely overbought now.With the COIN ETF decision quickly approaching on March 11, USD demand is slowly pricing in an approval decision from the SEC.I’d expect BTC-USD to continue holding above XAU-USD until the ETF decision, when we may see the “buy the rumor, sell the news” paradigm, causing the BTC-USD price to break below gold parity again.Although it is an exciting milestone for Bitcoin, it’s largely an ideological bump in the road and has little meaning for the network or future price itself.Based on utility, ease of access, fungibility, security and storage, bitcoin stands far above gold for today’s world.