During the last couple of years, Bitcoin has seen its ups and downs, yet, it has never managed to overcome the collapse it faced after the Mt. Gox accident, when millions of dollars-worth of Bitcoin were stolen from one of the world’s most popular Bitcoin Exchanges at the time- until now.

The year of 2017 is starting out big in the world of Bitcoin, considering the fact that the digital currency has just managed to break $1,000, a figure that was last achieved at the beginning of January 2014, thus showcasing the fact that Bitcoin is now back on its feet, and stronger than ever. Not only this, but Bitcoin is also significantly stronger when compared to 2013/14, due to the fact that the overall market capitalization of the entire bitcoin Blockchain has surpassed the value of $16 billion, a figure never seen before on the market. Indeed, this is still considerably smaller when compared to the market cap of PayPal, which is situated at $47 billion, yet it proves that there is still enough place for growth, and that bitcoin will likely surpass that too, in the near future.

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.