US Cannabis Trade Boosts Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin and legalized cannabis trade in the US will influence the growth of cryptocurrency trading, driving them to record records, says Tim Hockey, CEO and TD Ameritrade.

Tim Hockey thinks that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrenies that are connected to legalized cannabis will propel the future of digital currencies to new heights.

Mr Hockey stated in a CNBC interview that, in crypto trading, one of the reasons millennials are interested in trading again is due to bitcoin and the legalization of cannabis in the US.

“If you look at those two sectors in the quarter we just announced last year, they would have made up about two percent of trade.” he said.“Yet for this past quarter, for the full quarter, they made up about seven or eight percent of trades.”

He noticed that everyone is interested in finding out more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

 “It’s abated a little bit in January, but even if you look at the levels that we’re trading at now, we’re still doing about 975,000 trades a day,” he added.

“That is up from the 726,000 we reported in the final quarter. So that’s in January.”

He says that if you look at all the blockchains, cryptocurrencies and cannabis-related stocks, the number will be just a bit under 900,000, resulting in a great general interest from the public.

Bitcoin- ‘better than diamonds’

Bitcoin and other digital currencies like Ethereum and Ripple have been compared to assets such as gold and precious metals.

Jeff Currie of Goldman Sachs said that bitcoin is even more advantageous than traditional commodities due to its very low cost of production.

“If you think about its ability to be used as gold or precious metals, one thing that separates it from other commodities is it’s very low cost to store and very easy to conceal,” Currie says.

“It’s better than diamonds.”

Will the US cannabis trade have that much of an impact on the future of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies? So far the numbers are supporting this theory, but only the future will tell what the outcome will be.