Bitcoin was handed a huge boost this week after Facebook reversed its ban on cryptocurrency ads across its platforms. Crypto exchanges and other companies will now be able to reach more than three billion people on platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. The ban was imposed in 2018 in an effort to prohibit “misleading or deceptive promotional practices”. In the years since, Bitcoin has benefited from investment from big companies, and El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognise it as legal tender in September.
However, Bitcoin remains a volatile investment, with values regularly fluctuating.
Cryptocurrency does have the backing of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, however, as he said in 2018 that he hopes Bitcoin will become the world’s single currency.
It came after Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said he believes bitcoin will become the single currency worldwide.
Responding to Mr Dorsey’s comments, Mr Wozniak told CNBC: “I buy into what Jack Dorsey says, not that I necessarily believe it’s going to happen, but because I want it to be that way, that is so pure-thinking.
“Bitcoin is mathematically defined, there is a certain quantity of Bitcoin, there’s a way it’s distributed… and it’s pure and there’s no human running, there’s no company running and it’s just… growing and growing… and surviving, that to me says something that is natural and nature is more important than all our human conventions.”
Earlier this year, Mr Wozniak said that Bitcoin is the digital equivalent of gold, and the product of a “mathematical miracle”.
As reported by El Sol de Mexico, Mr Wozniak said: “Gold is limited and you have to look for it; Bitcoin is the most amazing mathematical miracle. I do not invest in Bitcoin, but I believe in it for the future.”
Bitcoin has come under fire for its impact on the environment due to the amount of energy used to mine the crypto.
Mr Wozniak added that it should be “our mission” to “lower our energy consumption”.
Apple’s chief executive also admitted crypto-curiosity, saying he has invested in the cryptocurrency personally and that his company is “looking at it” as a potential new venture.
The company does not have “immediate plans” to enter into the crypto market, but has been exploring its options, Tim Cook said during a New York Times conference.
He said: “It’s something that we’re looking at. It’s not something we have immediate plans to do.
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“There are things that I wouldn’t do, like our cash balance – I wouldn’t go and invest that in crypto.
“Not because I wouldn’t invest my own money in crypto but because people don’t buy an Apple stock to get exposure to crypto.
“And I’m not planning to, in the immediate future, take crypto for our products.
“I think it’s reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio.”
When asked what Apple might therefore be planning, Mr Cook said he didn’t “have anything to announce today”.
Another prominent entrepreneur who has experimented with crypto is Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla announced in March that Bitcoin could be used to pay for its products, but this stance was abandoned just two months later.
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Mr Musk said Tesla would not sell any Bitcoin, and intends to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.
He added: “We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use [less than] one percent of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”
The move sparked a sharp downturn in the value of Bitcoin, but Mr Musk said in July that Tesla is “likely” to once again accept it for payments.
He said: “I wanted a little bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50%, and that there is a trend towards increasing that number, and if so Tesla would resume accepting bitcoin.
“Most likely the answer is that Tesla would resume accepting bitcoin.”
Bitcoin’s price currently stands at £42,000.
In October, a panel of 50 bitcoin and cryptocurrency experts predicted that Bitcoin’s price will continue to climb, surging to $250,000 (£188,000) by 2025 and a staggering $5million (£3.7million) by 2030.