Bitcoin Buoyant As Expert Encourages Confidence

After the value of Bitcoin hit a high recently, an Icelandic cryptocurrency expert has spoken to encourage greater confidence in virtual currencies.

The price of Bitcoin exceeded 50,000 USD for the first time this week, after steep increases last autumn, and following Elon Musk’s Tesla company investing half a billion USD in the electronic currency.

Kjartan Ragnarsson—chief executive of the Icelandic Blockchain Foundation, which exists to promote cryptocurrencies—told RÚV that government supervision of virtual funds had increased significantly in recent years.

His assurance follows a warning from the Icelandic Central Bank that the market is insufficiently regulated.

Bitcoin can now be bought through three companies in Iceland, all of which are licensed by the Central Bank of Iceland’s Financial Supervisory Authority. Kjartan said that Bitcoin transactions involving around 600 million ISK were undertaken last month.

“Currently, only about two percent of the world owns Bitcoin, so I think we are very early in the process. If I’m wrong, this will at least be a good story to tell at some point,” Kjartan told RÚV. He said that he couldn’t be sure that the price of Bitcoin would continue to rise, but that he was sure that cryptocurrency was the future of money.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.