Bitcoin’s relationship with oil trading is extremely complex globally. The emergence of Bitcoin exemplifies it as a currency. To make bitcoin trades valuable and easy, visit (Official Platform) of oil profits. However, due to its decentralized and anonymous nature, transactions are difficult to trace, which introduces challenges when analyzing supply chain relationships in the oil market.
Here we will explore how bitcoin has influenced trading in the oil market by highlighting critical aspects of its history and current state of play. We will also look at some recent developments that have been made around blockchain technology to investigate if these changes could lead to improvements in bitcoin’s impact on oil trading dynamics.
The Bitcoin/Oil Relationship
At face value, bitcoin’s adoption by the oil market could be seen as a positive development. The usage of digital currency is growing worldwide, and it can potentially streamline transaction volumes through intelligent contracts (i.e., self-executing contracts with pre-defined terms), lower transaction costs, and provide greater trade transparency.
In particular, bitcoin is a volatile asset that can fluctuate dramatically in value and, therefore, might lead to some challenges in oil trading if bitcoin achieves stability sooner. Below are five critical ways that Bitcoin has influenced the oil market:
Transaction Volumes: The overall transaction volumes of bitcoin have increased over the past years, and this trend is expected to continue. Due to its anonymous nature, bitcoin can become an ideal tool for legal goods trading without any identity reveal. Therefore, regulators and industry stakeholders must pay more attention to this relationship as new challenges emerge.
Smart Contracts: Smart contracts could be part of a solution to some of the challenges associated with trade finance in the oil industry. The advent of smart contracts could help address some drawbacks associated with trade finance, such as trust and counterparty risk. They may also offer better control over supply chain transactions. However, the concept is still in its very early stages, and there is only limited evidence that industry actors could use smart contracts.
Blockchain Technology: The advent of blockchain technology has led to new ideas on how the oil industry can use it to enhance transparency, reduce transaction costs and mitigate fraud. However, the limits of blockchain applications are yet to be fully realized.
Increased reporting requirements: As a result of international regulatory bodies’ increasing focus on oil trading practices, more companies within the industry have an incentive to adopt Bitcoin. It has led to a significant rise in reporting requirements that need to be met by trading actors. Accordingly, this will likely lead to higher transaction fees for oil trade through the conventional method, and BTC can account for a significant part of cutting this hiked exchange and trading fees.
Bitcoin’s Potential: Increasing demand for digital currency and its usage in the oil market can help achieve better transparency and lower transaction costs. There is not enough evidence that the Bitcoin chain itself will be able to handle the demands of millions of transactions properly within a short time as it needs some significant improvement in scalability.
The global oil market has been affected by various digital currencies that have risen in popularity over the past years. For instance, globally, bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than that produced by Bolivia’s entire national energy grid, and its volatility is causing problems for global energy companies.
How do price fluctuations of bitcoin affect the oil market?
For both oil and Bitcoin, price is essential. Price volatility tends to impact the financial stability, market reach, and long-term sustainability of oil trading platforms. If a trader holds a position for too long, expecting the price of two currencies to converge towards a trade-able equilibrium, there will be a risk of losing money.
Price fluctuations in the bitcoin price significantly impact oil trading as oil prices are also volatile. In addition, volatility significantly impacts the financial resources available to oil companies to fund exploration and production activities, which might cause oil price fluctuations and fluctuations in the Bitcoin price.
It could be important for states that rely on natural resources for economic stability. The case is especially true in countries where a significant portion of government revenues is derived from resource exports or where the government plays a central role in managing critical natural resources. Bitcoin can impact the success of Oil futures trading, but its volatility sometimes makes it unsuitable as a medium for oil trading.
