According to the report from Juniper Research, the number of Bitcoin and Altcoin transactions is going to increase twice by 2017. Currently according to the stats in the year 2014 there were a bit more than 24 mln., far in 2013 there were only 18 mln. of transactions. As the forecast says in 2017 the number of transactions will grow up to 56 mln., which speaks of increasing popularity of this crypto currency.
At the same time as the popularity rises, the value of bitcoins and altcoin trasnactions is expect6ed to fall down to by 58% in 2015, to just over $30bn. While the popularity of cryptocurrency will be rising, the customers should not expect Bitcoin to become the most popular means of payment anyway, says Dr. Windsor Holden, head of consultancy and forecasting at Juniper. Here is particularly what he says:
"I think the challenges are so great that bitcoin will struggle as an actual payment mechanism. It will struggle to go over a fairly core audience who are the very techy and the libertarians, and those who partake in nefarious activities."
At the same time Holden looks forward to see the cryptocurrency potential to improve the payments ecosystem. For example, he cited the decentralized payment system developed by Ripple Labs, which uses a native currency for settlement, as one that could become part of the financial infrastructure. That is not an annual report on the digital currency industry. This statement cannot be used there for no pub data was used to define the volume and value of bitcoin, litecoin, dogecoin and auroracoin on a month-over-month basis throughout 2014.
Holden emphasized while the entire value of bitcoin transactions keeps on falling, the volume of these transactions will be rising. He actually projected the 858% decline. In 2015 the "reasonable increase" of the transactions volume is projected, however it needs to be mentioned that most of this activity takes place within exchangers, which cannot be basically characterized as real spending.
Around the industry there is an opinion that the total userbase of bitcoin is smaller than advertised. Holden cautions readers not to believe this hype. "When you look at the actual number of wallets and people who regularly make transactions, rather than just store half a bitcoin, you're talking about a couple million max," he added.
At the same time, Holden is sure, the number of merchants and retailers using bitcoins will not affect the increase of the consumer use of the cryptocurrency. This is not necessary and the fact is not proven.
The full paper, titled The Future of Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin & Altcoin Impact & Opportunities 2015-2019, is now available on the company's website.
