The road after Bitcoin: Will the market recovery drive the development of its applications?

Price vs. Value

According to Baidu Index, the search volume of Bitcoin in the past month has increased by 34% year-on-year. The news that the central bank said it would issue digital currency some time ago is undoubtedly a major good news for the entire Bitcoin industry, and the price of Bitcoin has also risen accordingly. The news also brought more users and media attention to the Bitcoin industry. However, the increase in platform transaction volume, the activity of community forums and other industry indicators still completely depend on the high and low changes in Bitcoin prices for a long time before and after.

The development of Bitcoin itself is inseparable from key factors such as price fluctuations, but in terms of the value of Bitcoin, the development of blockchain is also indispensable. If the price factor is a necessary condition for the increase in Bitcoin's attention, then the application of Bitcoin's underlying protocol blockchain technology is the core value of Bitcoin's development. According to Baidu Index, the overall search volume of blockchain keywords has increased by 20% month-on-month, but it must be mentioned that before December 2015, blockchain was not included in Baidu Index. This shows that based on the entire Bitcoin industry, although price is the focus of general attention, the application of Bitcoin has also become more popular as the public's awareness of it increases, and Bitcoin has gradually developed in the direction that many believers expect. Of course, this is also the result of more and more funds at home and abroad supporting blockchain start-ups.

The conflict between users and the market

Some practitioners in the Bitcoin industry have said that there are no more than 500,000 potential users of Bitcoin (digital currency) in China. Although it is not known how this number is calculated, based on the activity of the Bitcoin community, for example, the traffic of WeChat groups, QQ groups, forums, and segmented media, the number of potential users may be far from this number. The key to the contradiction between users and the market lies in how to better popularize Bitcoin knowledge or how to lower the threshold for potential users to participate in the industry. More potential people are still concerned about a series of basic knowledge demands such as what Bitcoin is and what Bitcoin is used for. According to data from mainstream search engines, the search volume for the keyword "What is Bitcoin" has reached more than 1.9 million. Therefore, the key to turning potential users in the Bitcoin industry into potential users is how to solve the rigid needs faced by most people.

Digital currencies flourish

Many domestic and foreign corporate teams have developed their own "Bitcoin" to operate and promote. Of course, at the beginning of development, they will give these digital currencies the concept of development. For example, Ethereum is not a currency strictly speaking. It is an excellent underlying protocol on which any advanced contracts, currencies and other decentralized applications can be created. Another example is the Qianfeng team engaged in the sale of overseas boutiques and second-hand luxury goods. It has issued the "Qianjin Card" digital currency earlier, combining the existing mall with digital currency, promoting the development of the mall and expanding the business scope of the enterprise. Digital currencies similar to Qianjin Card are also used in different fields, such as traditional trading platforms, logistics, equity proof, etc.

The inevitability of market development

On March 14, 2016, some domestic media broke the news that Microsoft's win10 store no longer accepts Bitcoin payments, but Microsoft later corrected it, saying that the store still accepts Bitcoin. At present, some foreign companies are also accepting Bitcoin payments, but affected by the business and policy environment, the development of domestic Bitcoin payment companies is not ideal. However, on the road of blockchain development, the market recovery and increased attention will undoubtedly give rise to more digital currency (blockchain) companies.