Investigation into the Market Viability of Bitcoin: Measuring the Digital Currency's Speculative Nature

Abstract

Among the recent attempts at developing a stable electronic payment system, Bitcoin is one of the few that shows actual progress in establishing its status as real money. Despite the progress it is making, due to inherent price volatility and instability, Bitcoin is still considered as more of a speculative vehicle than a currency. The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which Bitcoin market is dominated by speculative investments. The paper studies arbitrage opportunities in Bitcoin and how the trading volume and the price of Bitcoin react to them. The results of the empirical analysis show the existence of a positive relationship between the arbitrage opportunities and both the Bitcoin trading volume and the Bitcoin price. The findings of the study contribute to the literature on the economic viability of Bitcoin and provide a base ground for discouraging short-term investors.