Doom and gloom...

Hello fellow Steemians!

We are experiencing very turbulent waters in the coin market, although I must admit these swings and roundabouts seem to be common in the cryptocoin market. I don't want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but here is my take on recent events.

The ICO ban in China seems to have been the starting point of our troubles coupled with a price target of $3,000 recommended by Goldman Sachs. Hype was quickly built around the news and our beloved media outlets have taken to it claiming fire and brimstone. The fear has lead to investors getting out before the storm leading to a drop in value, followed sharply by profit takers and stop-losses. Then just to add to the whole fandango Jamie Dimmon (JPMorgan’s Chase Chief) started flinging his arms claiming (once again) that Bitcoin is a fraud and China decides it might ban crypto exchanges. Just incase that wasn't enough the Bank of America decided that Bitcoin is the most crowded trade on the market.

Now I know that these people and institutions are highly respected (for whatever it is worth nowadays) but it would be good to keep in mind that the Bitcoin and other coins are decentralized currencies, something that the world has never seen before. Being decentralized means that the currency is not controlled by anyone making the tendrils of the "Big Boys" not as long or as strong as they would like them to be.
As their stranglehold on the markets and world currencies slowly slips from their grasp and their butt-holes begin to burn it is natural that they will try to manipulate the market and create as much fear as possible. but...

During the early stage of it's existence the Bitcoin was a "joke", just an idea and people could play around mining and swapping Bitcoin between themselves. Eventually being adopted by shady businesses due to the anonymity of the currency. Since these early days the Bitcoin market has come along in leaps and bounds, from its $0.04 price tag in early 2010 to $5000+ in 2017.
I am a firm believer that one cannot simply kill the Bitcoin due to its popularity amongst the “common folk”, we “peasants” like the idea that we are in total control of our money and that we can’t be manipulated by evil inflation and deflation. Another thing in Bitcoins favour is the speed with which I can send money or payments. With a normal bank if i want to purchase something via bank transfer, I will have to wait 2-3 business days and pay a hefty transaction fee. Why should it take so long and cost so much just to send some 0’s and 1’s from one bank to another via the internet? The same purchase done with bitcoin would result in a comparatively non-existent charge and would take some 3 seconds to happen.

Raising an unfavourable flag for the bitcoin would be a long standing question that I have not been able to answer is “why is Bitcoin valued so high?”. We rant about how it will be $7500 EoY or $50,000 by 2020, etc. But why should Bitcoin be valued in the thousands and not in the hundreds or tens? If anyone can answer this I’d be grateful!

Anyway, enough ranting… I want to know what you guys, gals and the inbetweeners think about Bitcoin, its future and when it will stop dropping. I think Bitcoin will continue to grow and fight the growing resistance, breaking all barriers and expectations (so long as it is not made illegal all of a sudden). As for a price where it will stop dropping, I would say around the $3000 mark I’m sure GS will help it along with that...