The Bitcoin market cap plays a key role in making sense of Bitcoin value predictions of $10,000, $100,000 and even $1 million.
As of today, the Bitcoin market cap is $3.2 billion. That's 14.22 million bitcoins times $225, the price of Bitcoin on Monday afternoon. That's not a lot of money for a technology that's expected to revolutionize the world of finance.
But the way Bitcoin is designed will force the Bitcoin market cap higher as time goes on...
Bitcoin News Today: After a recent string of good news, the price of Bitcoin has inched up some - and remains stable.
After hitting a recent low of $177 in January, the Bitcoin price looks to be stabilizing around $240.
More importantly, though, some major players are sniffing around the cryptocurrency - and are beginning to take it more seriously... with cash.
Take Goldman Sachs, for example...
A rapid-fire string of good news over the past week has help nudge up the price of Bitcoin.
A week ago the Bitcoin price was hovering around $225, somewhat disappointing since just six weeks earlier it was threating to break through the $300 level.
But then we started to get some major positive Bitcoin news. Over the past few days, the Bitcoin price is up about 7%, trading in the neighborhood of $240
The price of Bitcoin stands to get a boost this year from an unlikely source - state and local governments.
At least two states, New Hampshire and Utah, have bills under consideration that would make it possible for citizens to pay taxes and fees in Bitcoin. New York City has proposed similar legislation.
The likelihood of some governments taking Bitcoin payments gives the digital currency a stamp of legitimacy. And the added confidence that brings ultimately will have a positive impact on the price of Bitcoin.
But that's not all it would do...
Don't be fooled when you see a Bitcoin price prediction that calls for a collapse in the digital currency based on its steep price decline from a bubble that burst.
That's not really what the charts are saying, although it's easy to see why they'd get it wrong.
The critics only can see a long slide into oblivion. They believe Bitcoin has no value, and that its demise is inevitable.
But these critics miss several key points...
The Bitcoin price chart for January shows volatility is just as much of an issue for the digital currency as ever.
But for Bitcoin to gain mainstream adoption, this problem must be solved. A currency that can Bitcoin's tendency to lose 20% to 40% of its value in a matter of days, or even hours, discourages its use for daily transactions.
Last year's Bitcoin price decline has persisted into 2015, but don't mistake that as a sign the digital currency will soon be history.
Because even as the Bitcoin price has fallen from a 2014 high of $951.39 to a low this year of $257.09, the Bitcoin ecosystem has continued to grow.
Bitcoin's critics have pounced on the cryptocurrency's latest woes. But the months-long fall in Bitcoin prices and string of bad news has done little to slow the digital currency's progress.
In fact, the rate of Bitcoin adoption in recent months has accelerated...
One of the biggest knocks on the Bitcoin market has been the volatility of the price of Bitcoin, and looking at the price charts over the past six months, it's easy to see why.
But lately, the situation has changed, and this change looks permanent.
The only way to understand what's going on is to take a look at our Bitcoin price timeline...
An investor group called Sunlot Holdings is seeking to revive the failed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has made a deal with the claimants in two class action lawsuits on a proposed settlement.
It's the last best chance for the 127,000 customers of Mt. Gox to recover any of their lost money, which amounted to 750,000 bitcoins.
But the proposal faces one last and very big hurdle...
The reason why the Bitcoin price is falling today is a familiar one: China.
After climbing back to $500 last Thursday, the Bitcoin price started to tumble on news that the People's Bank of China had privately told banks and payment companies to cease all interaction with digital currency companies such as Bitcoin exchanges.
The bankrupt Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange took another step toward oblivion when the Tokyo District Court dismissed its application for civil rehabilitation and steered it on a path to liquidation.
That news is of concern to the 127,000 Mt. Gox customers who had money stuck in accounts there - liquidation usually reduces any restitution.
But the Japanese administrator taking over the Mt. Gox assets left open a possibility that at some point could allow the failed exchange to pay back customers.
After plunging to six-month lows, just last Friday, Bitcoin prices have rebounded 40%. And that's on a day when the Chinese Bitcoin exchanges were supposed to get cut off from their bank accounts.
It seems that, for better or for worse, events in China are driving the price of Bitcoin.
isn't going to change any time soon...
Some in the mainstream media would have you believe that most of those investing in Bitcoin are naïve and unsophisticated fools who don't recognize a bubble when they see one.
But that doesn't explain why some big names in venture capital are pouring millions of dollars into the digital currency, or why Wall Street is growing increasingly interested.
Reports that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) planned to shut down the bank accounts of Chinese Bitcoin exchanges became all too real today (Thursday), as the exchanges began receiving official notices from their respective banks.
The news sent the Bitcoin price today falling as much as 12.4% to a low of $385.32, adding to the losses that started after the first rumors leaked out several weeks ago. Bitcoin prices have fallen from more than $600 in mid-March and more than $800 at the start of the year.
When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its guidance on digital currency a few weeks ago, it seemed that Bitcoin investing had gotten some very good news.
See, the IRS had just issued a ruling in which the tax agency said it intended to treat the radical new digital currency as property, not currency.
