HANOI – The price of Bitcoin has surged 20 times over the past year to US$17,000 and is forecast to decrease in the next five years, even to zero.
Both Nguyen Viet Bach and Dominik Weil from Bitcoin Vietnam Co Ltd agreed the price of the crypto-currency might soar to US$50,000-100,000 in the coming time.
However, the split over Bitcoin and the competition among digital currencies may reduce the Bitcoin price in the next five years, Bach said.
Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc, chairman of BASICO law firm, said Bitcoin might fall to zero as Vietnamese law does not recognize it as a legal means of payment.
Tran Huu Duc, member of the Vietnam Fintech Club management board, said the Bitcoin market has attracted prestigious financial institutions and that backers want to encourage the wider use of Bitcoin while critics warn of price risk.
The number of people investing in Bitcoin is on the rise. Up to 60,000 people have registered for accounts at Bitcoin Vietnam Co Ltd alone, double last year. In addition, Facebook groups on crypto-currencies and digital assets with huge membership have been established.
Bitcoin has increased four times in just three months, thus attracting more investors, Nguyen Duy Hung, chairman and general director of Saigon Securities Inc. (SSI), told a seminar on Bitcoin and Blockchain on December 20.
Total value of Bitcoin transactions in Vietnam amounts to US$100 million a day, Bach noted.
Technology firms have imported machinery, mainly from China. Nearly 1,500 Bitcoin and Litecoin automatic data processing machines have been shipped to HCMC as of October, according to the HCMC Department of Customs.
Dominik Weil said most investors use Bitcoin to speculate on their assets value without much knowledge of it.
Bitcoin cannot be deemed as a currency at they are not managed by the State Bank of Vietnam and recognized by other countries, said Hung.
He also proposed the Government take measures to prevent Bitcoin from being used to transfer money anonymously.
Source: Thuy Dung
Link: http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/57649/Bitcoin-forecast-to-fall-in-next-five-years.html