I've been thinking about why people use Bitcoin a bit lately and its long-term potential. It used to be touted as an alternative to fiat currency, and in fact, the future of currency. Now it seems that people are talking about Bitcoin more as a store of value - a place to keep your money safe that is not a bank or an institution. I know a lot of us invest in Bitcoin more for the perceived increase in value; basically, a lot of us want to get rich.
Here's my question: Would you still continue to move your fiat currency to Bitcoin if it topped out at around USD$5000 and you KNEW it would not go higher, but you also KNEW it would not dip in value? Maybe we could assume it would rise with inflation. If this were the case would you be more or less likely to move your money to Bitcoin?
It's true that bitcoin is used by the investors worldwide because of its future potential. The potential looks really great and hence people are buying and storing it. I myself is a similar kind of bitcoin investor who thinks about long term. However, if the the price of bitcoin stabilised around 5k usd the usage will also be changed. Instead of speculators, we will see a different group of investors here who are willing to avoid risk as well as the hawk eye of enforcement agencies. So a lot of people will buy bitcoin instead of investing in gold or similar assets.