Five big news in 2017 that could boost Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s current price is up more than 300% from its 2015 low, and this upward trend may continue. Here are five factors that could bring more real value to Bitcoin in 2017.

Yours.org

Yours.org is the brainchild of Ryan X Charles, and the project aims to eliminate content monopolies. Companies such as Facebook and Youtube rely on content created by the public to sell ads to make money. The Yours network enables micropayments, hoping that all content creators can get paid for their creations without having to pay a large portion of their potential profits to third parties. It is reported that the Yours team is currently testing its platform and hopes to open it to the public in early 2017.

MegaUpload 2.0

Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom launched a content hosting and streaming service called MegaUpload in 2005, but the site was shut down by the US government after it was cracked down on for allegedly violating copyright laws. Now, Kim Dotcom is trying to make a comeback with MegaUpload 2.0, which he plans to launch, which is said to be faster, more powerful, and even impossible to shut down. The site has introduced a micropayment method called "bitcache" that uses Bitcoin. Kim Dotcom said he has 100 million user data from the original MegaUpload software and is ready to import all of it when MegaUpload 2.0 is launched in January 2017, a move he said could push the price of Bitcoin to more than $2,000.

RSK

The RSK platform (formerly known as Rootstock) promises to combine the functionality of Ethereum smart contracts with the security of the Bitcoin blockchain. The project is led by Sergio Lerner and Diego Gutierrez, whose team received $1 million in funding earlier this year and launched a beta network last month. It is reported that the RSK team hopes to release the official version of the RSK platform in 2017. Since RSK uses the same code as Ethereum, the project has the potential to impact Ethereum and take Bitcoin to a new level.

Regulated Bitcoin Funds

US regulators have been dragging their feet on approving Bitcoin funds, but as big companies around the world start to get involved, the process may accelerate. For example, Germany's Acatis, a wealth management and banking fund, has shown interest in Bitcoin. In addition, the UK's Global Advisor Bitcoin Investment Fund (GABI) has recently been approved to be listed on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange. Bitcoin IRA in the United States, as well as Sweden's XBT Provider, are helping investors access Bitcoin. Once these products show some great returns, hedge funds around the world will be under pressure and may choose to invest in a portion of Bitcoin, otherwise, they will lose customers because other funds do so.

Global adoption

Right now, a storm is brewing around the world for Bitcoin, Brexit, hyperinflation in Venezuela, restrictions on gold holdings in India… the list goes on. All of these events point to Bitcoin being an attractive investment, or a real solution. And peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchanges, such as Localbitcoins and Paxful, are seeing record high volumes. And this upward trend doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.

All in all, 2017 is expected to see more real value in the Bitcoin ecosystem.