After the hype, bitcoin returns to a niche investment

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-10-19

A bitcoin ATM in Seoul, March 8. (File photo/Xinhua)

Bitcoin, the virtual currency that once made headlines with its high price fluctuations, has returned to its former status of being a niche alternative investment, the Chinese-language Securities Times reports.

"Bitcoin has truly become marginalized," said a manager surnamed Xie at a trust company in Shenzhen who once owned 20 units of the online currency.

The surge in the value of bitcoin to over US$1,000 per unit in the latter half of 2013 garnered public attention. Each rise and fall in its value made headlines, the newspaper noted.

Although the currency saw an intra-session fall of 23% on Oct. 5 and hit a low of US$275, Xie stated that only few people still paid attention to it now because of its marginalization.

All Xie now hopes for is to get back the 20 bitcoins he had stored in the defunct trading platform Mt Gox, which filed for bankruptcy in February.

Created in 2009, bitcoin was once believed to have the potential to replace traditional currencies issued by governments. However, the involvement of regulators and the emergence of other online currencies such as litecoin revealed the uncertainties surrounding the virtual currency and dampened expectations.

The lack of security and guarantee for bitcoin holders, the newspaper further remarked, showed that investing in virtual currency remains a betting game.