During the last couple of months, the popularity of bitcoin has varied. In fact, most people outside who have not yet joined the market only hear about the digital currency when it changes value. With this in mind, bitcoin is currently undergoing a very exciting change.

To put things better into perspective, during the last 25 days, the price of the digital currency has grown by over 25%, and is now approaching the $1,000 mark, thus being extremely close to reaching its highest value in the last three years. This is quite exciting considering the fact that at the beginning of 2016, the bitcoin price was a bit under the value of $450, so it has almost doubled in value during this year.

With the constant growth in popularity and value of Bitcoin, it is no surprise that a big part of the digital currency community has forgotten about alternative currencies, also known as altcoins, and their role in the fintech ecosystem. During the last year, only two-three alternative currencies have made their way to the spotlight, or have seen any form of growth, whereas the others simply waited for something to happen.

However, there is an abundance of reasons explaining why members of the digital currency community should pay more attention to the evolution, or better said, lack of evolution of altcoins, and perhaps attempt to do something about it. It is worth keeping in mind that like any tool, in the world of cryptocurrencies, one size cannot fit all, which means that digital currencies vary in use based on the scenarios that they are tested in.

A couple of days ago, bitcoin has managed to reach its highest value in 2016, and surpass the $800 mark that it had been trying to break for the last couple of weeks. As we’re approaching the end of the year, we can’t help but wonder what 2017 will bring to the world of digital currencies, blockchain networks, and to Bitcoin itself.

In this article, we will attempt to cover some of the main predictions for bitcoin in 2017.

During the last couple of months, there have been numerous talks on the economic situation over in India, and how Bitcoin could prosper in the region, given the high percentage of citizens who are unbanked.

Events happening in the country may quicken this mass adoption of the digital currency in India, as it is becoming considerably harder for people to rely on cash for their daily transactions. Not long ago, the government if India decided to demonetize the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, which were worth $7 and $14 in value, and represented roughly 86% of all the cash found in circulation within the country’s borders. The situation is in fact quite bad, as with a population of over 1 billion people, there are only 200,000 ATMs in the country, and 87% of all financial transactions being carried out are made via cash.

Overstock represents one of the world’s biggest supporters of Bitcoin, considering the fact that they started accepting bitcoin as a form of payment long before many other popular companies. Well, recent reports indicate that the company has just become the first publicly-traded firm to issue stock, directly via the Internet, thus being ready to distribute 126,000 company shares, using the bitcoin blockchain.

With the help of a subsidiary, Overstock has spent the last two years trying to build a blockchain-based technology that would later be used to facilitate the trading of various financial securities of the firm. Back in October, the firm announced that they will allow stakeholders to purchase whatever number of shares they wish, from their preferred stocks.

We've always been avid supporters of the blockchain network, and covered its potential uses numerous times in our previous articles. However, we haven't always talked about the regulatory issues that blockchain implementation has to deal with.

According to recent reports, there are numerous blockchain-based start-ups looking to set foot in Ireland, yet they're all dealing with some regulatory conflicts. This is mostly so due to the fact that blockchain technology is decentralized by its nature, which is the main reason why financial frameworks alongside with money transmission regulation does not apply to the distributed ledger technology, thus coming into conflict with it.

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A report issued by the Saxo Bank, and entitled ‘Outrageous Prediction for 2017’ says that several reasons will gradually push the bitcoin price forward, until it reaches the new high of $2,000.

At this moment in time, there are three plausible reasons, these being Donald Trump’s presidency, the Indian demonetization and the fall of the Chinese Yuan.

During the last couple of months, we’ve often talked about the potential of the blockchain network, and how it could change the financial system, alongside with numerous administrational processes.

Yet, we never mentioned the influence that the blockchain network could have on the food we eat, where and when we buy it, but also on how we consume it. In fact, there are numerous reports stating that Wal-Mart is experimenting with blockchain technology, and wishes to change the way it serves over 260 million people on a weekly basis.

So far, we thought that governments are mainly interested in regulating bitcoin use, yet it seems that this is not the case, as there are numerous legislative drafts meant to regulate the blockchain network.

With this in mind, certain reports indicate that not long ago, the state of Illinois decided to take its first step in a multi-agency plan meant to integrate the integration of blockchain network into government operations of all kind. However, to be able to do this, legislative framework outlining the uses has to be implemented.