Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Announces the Launch of a Major Research Program Analysing the Trends Impacting the Global Market for Bitcoins

In the coming months, GIA will complete an extensive secondary and primary research program involving some of the industry’s leading players and experts.

The study will examine key drivers and trends impacting the market such as convenience driven adoption of electronic currency; expansion in the number of bitcoin exchanges and transactions as a result of increase in the number of vendors accepting bitcoins as payments; proposed launch of bitcoin ATMs; continuous rise in the price/value of a bitcoin; establishment of online specialist currency exchanges to facilitate purchase of bitcoins; impact of regulatory challenges and issues related to security, illegal transfer of funds, and increase in black market transactions.

Defined as a virtual currency, also known as cryptocurrency, Bitcoins are expected to witness steady growth encouraged largely by the convenience provided by virtual financial transactions. Bitcoins facilitate online transactions without the bank’s intervention. Key benefits that have driven the adoption of bitcoins over the last couple of years include unrivalled portability, universal acceptability, improvements in cryptography and other security solutions, minimal transaction fees, steadily appreciating value, and irreversible trading transactions.

An increasing number of online stores and retail outlets are accepting bitcoins in lieu of conventional fiat currency thus boosting adoption. The introduction of bitcoin ATMs in the United States to enable withdrawing cash by trading bitcoins and vice versa is expected to step up the popularity of bitcoins.

Fears of quantitative easing (QE) associated with central bank backed currency and the resulting increase in risk stemming from the devaluation of the currency held is additionally helping spur preference for bitcoins. The recent financial crisis in European economies like Greece and Cyprus which devalued consumer savings and heightened the risks associated with traditional currencies, has therefore unleashed fresh interest in bitcoins as a safe haven for investments.

In addition to the opportunities offered, the market also faces challenges in the form of volatile exchange rate fluctuations, high risk of losses, and limited supply since the bitcoin network is designed to generate bitcoins limited to a little over 20 million bitcoins. The limited supply encourages speculation and hoarding to artificially drive up the value of bitcoins. Given that bitcoins are not backed by the central bank, security issues continue to plague this digital currency platform. For instance, as with majority of online currencies, bitcoins are vulnerable to hacking and theft, which unlike other currencies are not indemnified by the Financial Services Authority. Also, the absence of a central controlling entity for bitcoins coupled with the complexity involved in tracing the participants involved in a transaction provides a safe haven for money-laundering, drug trade and other illegal activities thereby posing real threat to the market’s growth.

The research and analyses will be released shortly in the form of a comprehensive research report. The report by design, will attempt to provide exhaustive analysis, data, trends, market share, market size, statistics, forecasts and competitive intelligence. The report is modeled to offer precise and unbiased, actionable market insights including in-depth segmentation of market sub-sectors, demand estimates and projections and analysis of trends in each of the sectors, identification of leading players, and the competitive structure, among others.

Developed for Strategic Planners, Business Development Executives, Management Consultants, Investment Bankers, Consulting Firms, Marketing & Sales Executives, C-Level Decision Makers, Market Strategists and Technology Domain Experts, the report helps identify the biggest opportunities in this space and offers accurate latent demand forecasting that empowers quantitative decision making among existing market players and new entrants.

For more details about how you can participate, please visit: http://www.strategyr.com/PreReleaseReport.asp

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) is a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company currently employs over 800 people worldwide. Annually, GIA publishes more than 1300 full-scale research reports and analyzes 40,000+ market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 Companies worldwide. Serving over 9500 clients in 27 countries, GIA is recognized today, as one of the world's largest and reputed market research firms.

Global Industry Analysts: http://www.strategyr.com/