The bitcoin bubble has burst, and people are reeling from the fallout. The value of the first digital coin is falling, and it’s only a matter of time before it reaches dirt cheap—maybe even plummet down to an atomic-level ground zero, figuratively speaking. Economists agree that the cryptocurrency will crash; they just don’t know when.
But unlike an atomic bomb, the bitcoin crash may affect different industries and individuals in various degrees of damage. In fact, some of the effects can be felt as early as now.
Here are some likely consequences of the bitcoin crash.
Bitcoin Bandwagoners Become Poorer
Of course, the crash is clearly a devastating outcome for bitcoin investors who’ve bought high while under the influence of the bandwagon hype.
In fact, it was that same hype that caused the crash in the first place. To be specific, the massive spike of new bitcoin buyers in the fourth quarter of 2017 swelled the value of bitcoin to an unsustainable rate. Savvy stakeholders waited for the price to reach its zenith then sold their portfolios en masse—thus the crash.
And all this both at the expense and at the fault of the people who wanted to get rich quickly.
Computer Components Become Cheaper
During the bitcoin craze, people were buying cryptomining equipment, hoping to strike it rich by being at the center of the gold mine. Manufacturers of computer hardware, especially GPUs (graphics processing units), had to raise their prices to mitigate the sudden demand.
Now that the coin crash is imminent, there are fewer prospectors buying PC components or using GPUs as makeshift mining machines. This also means that the prices of these hardware have normalized back to their prebitcoin price. Even high-end gaming PCs have become cheaper.
Some miners may even start dismantling and selling their setups to salvage a part of their investment. These would-be prospectors don’t want to meet the same fate as their predecessors did in the California Gold Rush.
Shrewd Investors Become Richer
Stock-market crashes typically have a recovery time where prices go up and reach a stable position. Though bitcoin is not a stock (and should not be treated as such), it is acting like one.
Thus, some optimists are eyeing the bitcoin price for when it’ll curve up to a parabola, for when the value consistently climbs back up. When that happens, that’ll be the best time to reinvest in the cryptocurrency.
And that is the true investor’s circle of life. That is how they make a profit and a living out of the rise and fall of markets.
Disclaimer
The world economy as a whole may only feel a just a slight tingle on the toes should the digital coin go a-tumble, but there’s no denying that cryptocurrency is a useful technology.
Though bitcoin will crash, its bubble and subsequent burst may just be a herald of a more stable digital coin. In point of fact, many countries are considering having their own government-backed cryptocurrency.
Should you be excited of such an idea? Yes, you most definitely should.