Bitcoin a 'long-term' buy, cryptocurrency exchange provider says

MANILA - Investors should look at bitcoin as a long-term investment, a cryptocurrency exchange provider said Monday, as regulators around the world moved to control the volatile digital tender.

Bitcoin is nearing a "normalization period" after soaring in value last year and succumbing to sell-offs at the start of the year, said Mergecommit CEO James Florentino.

"If you want to make money using bitcoin, it should be a long term thing," Florentino told ANC's Early Edition, adding investors who bought the digital currency in Dec. 2016 gained 10,000 percent last.

"With bitcoin, you need to be a little bit patient," he said.

Investors can also look at altcoins or bitcoin alternatives such as litecoin and etherium.

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Wild swings in bitcoin prices make it a "very risky" investment, exposing its holders to potentially "huge" losses, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had said.

China has cracked down on cryptocurrency trading with South Korea headed in the same direction. Indonesia authorities said last week they were investigating bitcoin use in the tourist island of Bali.

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"The market is on the right track and if bitcoin is going to replace gold as the possible storage of value, the possible highest amount that bitcoin can have would be in around the 350,000-mark," Florentino said.

"We are still in the ascension towards that number," he said

Source- http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/22/18/bitcoin-a-long-term-buy-cryptocurrency-exchange-provider-says