As the price of Bitcoin continues to soar, it is no doubt that there are multiple forces which contribute to its increase in value.
However, the price is not standard in all countries across the globe, thus emerging a debate around which factors are responsible for the variations in Bitcoin price from one country to the other.
For any particular country, the price difference is as a result of both micro and macro factors.
Starting off, it is important to note that the figure Google will give you as the price of Bitcoin is not the actual amount one will use to buy Bitcoins.
Google calculates Bitcoin price by averaging the values from various Bitcoin exchanges around the world.
And so when the value fluctuates across different platforms, Google automatically updates accordingly.
Among the primary reasons that contribute to the rise in Bitcoin price is the cryptocurrency's processing fee.
Whenever Bitcoins are sent, a certain fraction is paid to miners so they can process the transactions.
So for a trade with a small mining fee, the operations tend to delay for quite some time, and transactions with larger mining fees get processed faster.
Herein is the reason why individuals are advised to execute a higher transaction fee in the event of delays in the Blockchain.
Another factor is the location in which a Bitcoin transaction or exchange is taking place.
The law of supply and demand is significantly more applicable in this scenario.
For instance, in countries where Bitcoin is almost universally accepted as a payment platform, the market will experience a high demand-thus causing the price of the cryptocurrency to go up.
And, of course, it is to be expected that in regions where the currency is not generally accepted, the price will turn out to be much lower.
As it is now, individuals and entities in various countries have begun facing out the FIAT system and adopting to cryptocurrencies of different forms.
Demonetization has caused the demand for Bitcoin to sprout, further putting the cryptocurrency in a higher demand than in other areas where FIAT is the only form accepted.
Because an individual in a particular region cannot buy Bitcoin from another area that sells it cheaper-due to several bureaucracy limitations-this implies that they're left with no option but to go with the available method.
As Bitcoin continues to grow in value, some countries have considered legalizing it.
As a result of this, the price is much higher as it causes demand to increase.
However, in countries where it is not yet legally accepted, the demand is relatively small and so is the price.
Then, depending on the Bitcoin exchange you may use to acquire BTC, the price may either be high or low.
Some exchange platforms sell Bitcoin at a relatively high price because of their desire to increase profits; whereas others will sell them cheaper than their counterparts.
Perhaps the reason is that they are contented with the profits they make because of the many clients they have.
Also, the fact that Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer system makes it uncontrollable by any government institution anywhere in the world.
Due to this reason, the price will be negotiated between the two parties-thus, the agreement that they arrive at is based on their negotiation.
This mode of payment has a way of affecting prices because some platforms charge more fees as compared to others.
Also, some platforms are quite risky because of the possibilities of chargebacks in the event a user is dealing with a fraudster.
Several Bitcoin exchanges across the globe have their preferred options based on the location of the seller.
Not only that, some of them do not accept certain modes of payment.
It is because of this that we see price variations.
Depending on what mode one uses, they're more likely to pay more or less.
Within several major Bitcoin exchanges are payment options using money transfer platforms such as PayPal, Skrill, Western Union, and more.
Other payment options include gift cards, credit cards, electronic funds transfers and through mobile wallets.
So it's obvious that one can see how the price is expected to be different in regions across the globe where one is situated.
We note that the demand for Bitcoin in any given country is not the same in other countries.
In instances where there is more demand than supply, then the prices will demand as such.
The trend follows, and this is one of the ways by which some individuals have been able to predict the rise or fall in value.
In instances where the demand is slowing down or reducing, then price increase will also slow, remain constant or decrease.
In the past few months and weeks since Bitcoin hit its highest recorded value ever, the price has in some instances reduced, remained the same or increased again.
Since prices in the various exchange platforms are not the same, there come a pattern that follows-when external forces cause the variation in prices.
Of course, the price will increase or decrease in general, but the difference is the level of impact it will have in a particular country.
As a side note, Bitcoin addresses for users tend to change after some time raising fears among the users on the platform that they may lose their funds.
The feature is meant to increase security in the Blockchain and further prevent people from tracking your transactions over time.
As much as this is the case, some users have indicated that they would rather have one single address.
Even though addresses keep changing, it is impossible to lose funds because they are generated from the first address created in the exchange wallet-thus using a unique and secure system.
And so if one uses a Bitcoin address that is the same as the first address they used to send or receive funds, then there isn't any reason to worry.
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