Citigroup: mining will only increase in difficulty

Remember the times when Bitcoin could be mined through a simple video card? That era is long gone, and Citigroup analysts hint at the next evolutionary step Bitcoin will make once it becomes mainstream enough, in, say, four years, mining will be beneficial only if BTC will be very, very valuable — from $300,000 to $1.5 million. This might mean that the mining rush we see right now can end relatively soon.

The proof-of-stake model is what will replace the current situation — the more cryptocurrency the user owns, the more chances he/she has to acquire even greater amount.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the same company believes that the threat of Bitcoin will give rise to state-issued cryptocurrencies — although, as he himself notes, there will be little “crypto” in these future coins, so it’s more logical to call them digital currencies.

Citigroup might be a bit skeptical of Bitcoin (no pun intended), but like almost any major modern company, it embraces the blockchain tech. Together with NASDAQ, it’s currently trying to implement blockchain in the securities market.