2020 will be marked as the year of bitcoin boom. It is a year of global uncertainties too, and that by itself has led to the boom. Cryptos are governed by the economic factors, the technology behind them and the prevailing and expected regulatory interventions. Bitcoin, since its introduction in 2009, has evolved over all these three factors. Today, the bitcoin rally has a lot to do with large institutional investors jumping into this space and showing trust in the underlying blockchain technology during these uncertain times.

There is limit to which this will continue, and after that the regulators are bound to step in. If cryptos and sovereign currencies become equivalent as a source of funding, regulators will move beyond interim regulations, and adopt policy level changes. It is not going to happen too soon,

Fiat currencies are here to stay for a long time. Banks are today intermediaries for transactions. Blockchain technology removes the intermediary. Central banks have started figuring out blockchain. Globally, they are experimenting with Central Bank Digital Currency ( CBDC).

Previously, there were people who held cryptos, but there were few trades. But since March 2020, in a global boom, there is a 12 per cent jump in the number of trades that took place in India. Cryptomining is a technical topic. However, crypto trading concerns the masses.

Anyone who has an account with exchanges can buy, sell or hold cryptocurrencies. These platforms are technical and match the buyers and sellers, taking into consideration the quantity and the prices. There is interest earned for the currencies held on the platform, just like the banks. Either the transaction is free, or there is an exchange fee to the tune of 0.1 – 0.2 per cent of the transaction value.

Crypto exchanges also educate the customers-traders. They educate them on blockchain technology and crypto-trading. They would like to make the crypto experience as simple as conventional stock trading.