In late 2012, WordPress became the first major merchant to accept payment in Bitcoin. Others, including online electronics retailer Newegg.com, Expedia, Microsoft, and Tesla followed. Countless merchants now view the world’s most popular cryptocurrency as a legitimate payment method.
Cryptocurrency markets move according to supply and demand. However, as they are decentralised, they tend to remain free from many of the economic and political concerns that affect traditional currencies. While there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding cryptocurrencies, the following factors can have a significant impact on their prices: Supply: the total number of coins and the rate at which they are released, destroyed or lost Market capitalisation: the value of all the coins in existence and how users perceive this to be developing Press: the way the cryptocurrency is portrayed in the media and how much coverage it is getting Integration: the extent to which the cryptocurrency easily integrates into existing infrastructure such as e-commerce payment systems Key events: major events such as regulatory updates, security breaches and economic setbacks

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At IG, our markets for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin are quoted against the US dollar. This is how you’ll usually see these cryptocurrencies quoted elsewhere, too.