PwC releases Bitcoin research report

PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PWC ), one of the world's four largest accounting firms, released a 17-page digital virtual currency report entitled " Wandering Currency: Analyzing the Changing Digital Virtual Currency Market." The report was drawn up after PwC conducted a two-year research on the digital virtual currency market.

     Unlike other research reports, PwC did not focus on whether digital virtual currency can change the financial sector, but instead focused its research on other directions . PwC identified five key elements of this emerging market: merchants, high-tech R&D, investors, financial regulators, and consumers. They conducted a special survey to look at digital virtual currency from the perspective of consumers who are most likely to change the rules of the game.

The report states:

     “Digital virtual currencies have enormous groundbreaking potential. They can create a global payment system for consumers anywhere, at any time, which is limited only by technology and not by other factors such as credit history and bank accounts.”

     Talking about the market, the report said that digital virtual currencies currently rely heavily on venture capital injections for technology development. In addition, the report also interpreted some criminal incidents involving digital virtual currencies: incidents like MT.Gox are just individual cases, and such cases cannot represent the whole, and their impact will gradually fade as the market matures.

     For merchants, digital virtual currencies offer lower transaction fees and at the same time eliminate the possibility of any chargebacks. However, Bitcoin’s volatility also poses a threat to merchants, but this will eventually improve as the market grows .

     The report also mentioned blockchain technology at the end: "Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize many industries. Account custody, securities and financial products, smart contracts and election systems are just a few of the concepts being discussed."