With the astonishing rise of Bitcoin in the last few weeks, the world’s major financial powers have been scrambling to give their official stance on the digital currency that’s recently turned four years old.

Bitcoin first came to the attention of mainstream media earlier this year, when the volatile cryptocurrency’s first “bubble” saw its value rise above the $200 mark. It couldn’t hold its value at the time, but with further publicity in the shape of black-market websites like the Silk Road and US Senate hearings, not too mention increased interest from Chinese investors, BTC soon bounced back – hitting a max value of $1,242 on November 29, making one Bitcoin briefly worth more than an ounce of gold.

Breaking through the $1,000 barrier caused massive excitement in the Bitcoin community, only for its exceptional volatility to rear its head once more – last Saturday, BTC’s value slipped back to $576 on the BTC China exchange, following the (widely erroneously reported news) that China had banned its banks from trading in the currency and some recurring errors on popular exchange MT Gox. The news had many people worried, with some believing that China had effectively banned BTC altogether, however, BTC has since regained some ground, with the realization that all China has done is to legally define the cryptocurrency, as SiliconANGLE contributor Joseph Wang explained earlier this week.

Bitcoin gets “valued”

At about the same time as China set out its stall, France’s central bank issued a warning, urging people and institutions not to use Bitcoin, citing its lack of regulation and volatility.

But whatever damage this statement may have caused was quickly undone by one of the most exciting announcements the Bitcoin community has yet heard. On the same day, Bank of America Merrill Lynch published its first research report on the digital currency, stating that it had the potential to “become a major means of payment for e-commerce and may emerge as a serious competitor to traditional money transfer providers.” BoA’s report went even further too, going as far as to place a “fair maximum value” on BTC at $1,300, with a maximum market capitalization of $15 billion.

What with Bitcoin’s upward trend in recent months, there’s every chance that it can hit that fair valuations soon. As David Woo, BoA’s FX and Rate Strategist notes in the bank’s report, Bitcoin’s value has increased by 100 fold over the last year, and it could easily start trading above the $1,300 mark soon.

Further credence to this view is given by a logarithmic chart, which agrees with BoA’s position:

“The yellow line is rising at +0.825% daily, though obviously this price path persisting in perpetuity isn’t going to work forever, notes SiliconANGLE’s founding editor Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins.

“It’s important to note that this price path is logarithmic, and it’s the right way to view large magnitude movement.”

Just one day after BoA’s report injected further confidence into BTC enthusiasts, Western Union stepped in with its own response to the ‘Bitcoin buzz’:

“We will continue to track the use of virtual currency in the market, and expect that it should comply with the same regulations and oversight that the rest of the financial services industry must adhere to, to ensure that consumers are protected.”

When pressed further, Western Union responded with the following:

“Western Union proactively leverages macro trends to help shape our approach to product and service development.”

At first glance both comments seem pretty mundane. The first quote merely states that Western Union expects Bitcoin exchanges to follow the rules that govern regular, USD-based exchanges. It has zero influence of course, on how BTC exchanges might be regulated, but is indicative of what Western Union will demand if it’s ever to cooperate with Bitcoin.

The second comment is more enlightening though. What Western Union seems to be saying is that it’ll continue to monitor Bitcoin, and try to change its services and products if and when its customers demand it.

That’s to be expected really, and just like the Bank of America’s and China’s own comments last week, it can be taken as a tentative ‘acceptance’ of Bitcoin as a means of payment. Perhaps we shouldn’t really call it an ‘endorsement’ of BTC just yet. Neither China’s central bank, the Bank of America, the US government nor anyone else that matters is going to pro-actively support Bitcoin just yet, but at the same time, no one’s going to do anything to try and stop people from using it as an alternative means of payment.

And that lack of opposition alone should mean that ultimately, nothing will be able to stop it.

photo credit: btckeychain via photopin cc