Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic form of cash created in 2009 with a capped supply of 21 million, 19.7 million of which is currently in circulation. Bitcoin is created at a pre-determined rate written into its code in a process nicknamed “mining”, akin to the process of mining gold, with the rate of Bitcoin mined reducing by half every four years. The most recent “halving” was on 19 April 2024 where the amount of Bitcoin mined per day dropped from circa 900 to 450. In plain terms, this means that the rate of inflation of new Bitcoin on an annualised basis is now less than that of gold, and considerably less than all government issued fiat currencies.

Bitcoin value against world currencies

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is ranked 13^th in value against other international currencies according to the website Fiat Market Cap. This places it above the Swiss Franc (14^th), the Russian Rouble (15^th) and the Saudi Riyal (17^th).

Who else accepts Bitcoin?

In the US the most popular companies who accept Bitcoin for certain transactions include Wikipedia, Microsoft and AT&T. In the UK, a growing number of small businesses now accept Bitcoin as payment and platforms such as BitPay and CoinGate enable gift card purchases to be made with Bitcoin which can be redeemed at retailers such as ASDA, M&S and Primark amongst many others. UK based Musqet recently launched a fully integrated card and Bitcoin device alongside an online platform to allow any business to accept Bitcoin without complexity or friction in the same way you would make any other payment. Novus Resolve will use Musqet’s platform to accept Bitcoin payments.

Mainstream adoption

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the use of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024 which has seen Bitcoin embraced by US regulators and financial institutions as a legitimate digital commodity with investors embracing Bitcoin as digital property or a store of value investment.

At the time of writing, Blackrock, the largest asset manager in the world, has a rapidly growing Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) which holds 274,000 Bitcoin – more than 1. 3% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist – which is growing daily, with the remaining ETFs currently holding more than 530,000 Bitcoin between them. In total, US based ETFs now own over 825,000 Bitcoin (c. 4% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist). Further ETF approvals are expected in China and Hong Kong in the near future which are expected to add to demand pressure. With the UK, Singapore and the UAE all pushing regulatory policy around becoming digital asset havens, it is evident that digital assets and their value propositions are well positioned to gain significant attention from the traditional finance world.

One of Bitcoin’s best known business proponents is Michael Saylor, chairman and co-founder of MicroStrategy which at the time of writing, now holds more than 214,000 Bitcoin on its balance sheet worth around $14.1 billion. That is more than 1% of all Bitcoin that will ever exist.