With the digital currency market experiencing a surge in price, so too is the demand for experts in the industry.
To date, bitcoin’s price has risen as high as $7,300, helping to push the combined market value of all digital currencies over $192 billion for the first time. With this increase in value, employers are becoming more interested in the industry and are actively seeking experts in the field, reports Bloomberg.
Data compiled by Upwork, a website that connects freelancers with prospective employers, found that demand for people with expertise in blockchain and bitcoin-related work has risen during the last quarter.
According to Upwork, blockchain and bitcoin ranked second and third among the top 10 online skills behind robotics in the first place. The remaining were penetration testing – a cybersecurity specialty – react.js development, Amazon web services lambda, augmented reality, deep learning, Instagram marketing, and Final Cut Pro X. Compared to the same quarter last year, the 10 skills all grew by 200 percent.
Earlier this week, the CME Group announced that it is planning on launching a bitcoin futures contract by the end of 2017, pending regulatory approval. In a statement, Terry Duffy, CME chairman and CEO, said:
“Given increasing client interest in the evolving cryptocurrency markets, we have decided to introduce a bitcoin futures contract.”
News of CME’s intentions helped to push bitcoin’s value up to $6,600, then a new all-time high. However, the fact that Duffy is ‘confident’ it will pass regulatory approval has seen bitcoin’s price go even higher. As a result, the digital currency has been enjoying continual highs.
The question of whether bitcoin would reach $7,000 before the upcoming hard fork later this month has effectively been answered. Now, investors are wondering whether it will reach $10,000 before the year’s out.
Of course, while investors will no doubt be happy to see the trajectory that bitcoin is following, one has to wonder how far it will go before its price drops again. Time and again whenever bitcoin has reached new heights its value has, subsequently, fallen before steadily recovering again. So far, no significant drop has been recorded.
Critics, however, remain. According to Tidjane Thiam bitcoin is the ‘very definition of a bubble.’
Speaking at a press conference today, he expressed caution over the cryptocurrency, adding that its anonymity presents a ‘challenge.’ The New York Times reports him as saying:
“From what we can identify, the only reason today to buy or sell bitcoin is to make money, which is the very definition of speculation and the very definition of a bubble.”
He joins the likes of Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase CEO, billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal who have similar opinions.