Analysts from Japanese finance giant Nomura have found Bitcoin could be contributing as much as 0.3% extra GDP to Japan.
In a client note translated by Business Insider, Yoshiyuki Suimon and Kazuki Miyamoto praised the positive effects on consumer spending resulting from large numbers of Japanese holding Bitcoin.
The optimism capitalizes on Japan’s Bitcoin breakout this year, which saw the country take pole position in Bitcoin-to-fiat trading, as well as adopt nurturing regulatory frameworks to further Bitcoin’s implementation into its economy.
Following the firming up of its legal stance, Bitcoin accelerated in price to such an extent that Nomura suggests holdings could have a “measurable effect” on Japan’s GDP.
“The scale of this increase in assets can hardly be ignored,” the commented on Bitcoin’s growth.
The sentiment contrasts sharply with the new round of doom-mongering which surfaced in mainstream media in the US this week. Dennis Gartman and gold mining CEO Sean Boyd both told CNBC in the past week that investors will seek out a return to gold once Bitcoin’s characteristic volatility proves too much for them.
In addition, Gartman forecast a crash to below $5000 for BTC, but could not specify when this was likely to occur.
Separately this month, central banks in Poland and Denmark both produced strong warnings to consumers not to invest in cryptocurrency.