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The year that was: cryptocurrency
Fascinating and sometimes exhausting conversations about bitcoin occurred the whole year through even as the currency soared, plummeted and perplexed. Today, we look at cryptocurrency in 2017.

The year that was: cryptocurrency
Fascinating and sometimes exhausting conversations about bitcoin occurred the whole year through even as the currency soared, plummeted and perplexed. Today, we look at cryptocurrency in 2017.

What a year for bitcoin. As of late December, the controversial currency was sitting around the $20 thousand mark, and we all wish we’d bought about 50 in 2008.
But in 2017 we’ve also seen bitcoin potentially lead SMSFs into compliancy traps, as Access Super Audit principal Vivian Bai warned, while researchers from the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Sydney added that nearly half of all bitcoin transactions are linked with the buying and selling of illegal goods.
Speaking to Nest Egg, researcher Talis Putnins said bitcoin was the dark web’s “currency of choice” because the alternatives like cash and bank transfers are either too easy to track, like e-payments, or “virtually useless” for international trade, like cash.
“Cryptocurrencies (although not perfectly anonymous/untraceable) are considerably less transparent and more difficult to track than bank transfers or Paypal, etc. So they find their use in facilitating online illegal trade (in particular in dark web marketplaces) as perhaps the least traceable of the various forms of electronic payments."
The Reserve Bank of Australia itself called bitcoin fascination “speculative mania”, but conceded that blockchain was here to stay.
However, for blockchain and cryptocurrency to stay the game, miners, buyers and policymakers will need to reckon with the potentially catastrophic environmental impacts of it, Australian economist and former member of the board of the Australian government’s Climate Change Authority John Quiggin cautioned.
He told Nest Egg: “People didn't think very much about [the environmental ramifications of bitcoin] when it started and when it's raised, the general response is to say, well this can't really be true, it can't really be using so much electricity.
“But… the impact is measurable enough to be a significant proportion of world electricity use so that fact is hard to deny.”
However, amid a number of experts calling it a bubble, others are using the cryptocurrency to travel the world, as marketing director, Amelie Arras did in October this year.
Meanwhile, people are considering the ways it could fund an SMSF and others debate the possibility of shorting the currency now that bitcoin futures trading is open on the Chicago exchange.
Who knows what could happen, but for now we can probably all agree that it’s very entertaining to watch.

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Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin reaches record high ahead of ‘truly momentous day’
The price of bitcoin has surged to a new high following the direct listing of a crypto exchange platform which experts describe as a ‘truly momentous day in the cryptoverse’. ...Read more

Cryptocurrency
JP Morgan lifts bitcoin price prediction as cryptoasset market cap breaks record
Despite once being a crypto sceptic, JP Morgan has now revised its bitcoin price target to $130,000. ...Read more

Cryptocurrency
Does Australia need to regulate the cryptocurrency market?
Australia needs to set up its own regulatory oversight of the domestic digital asset market or risk being left behind by the rest of the world, a cryptocurrency specialist has warned. ...Read more

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Bitcoin’s staggering energy consumption figures revealed
As sustainable investing continues to draw increasing attention, questions are being raised about bitcoin’s energy consumption and its environmental impact. ...Read more

Cryptocurrency
Investors hunt for the next bitcoin
The high price of bitcoin following its 2021 rally has seen investors focus on trying to pick the next booming crypto currency, an industry expert has said. ...Read more

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Musk’s fortune tumbles alongside bitcoin following Twitter warning
Elon Musk has been dethroned, losing his title as the richest person in the world after Tesla shares dropped 8.6 per cent on Monday, instantaneously wiping US$15.2 billion off his fortune. ...Read more

Cryptocurrency
Over 100k bitcoin addresses hold over US$1m each
With forecasts emerging that Tesla is set to make more from bitcoin than profits from selling its electric cars in 2020, new research has revealed that there are now over 100,000 bitcoin addresses hol...Read more

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Ethereum’s all-time high ‘just the beginning’
The latest run for the second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum, has seen it surge to a new record high, with an analyst stating its record run is “just the beginning”. ...Read more