A new study conducted by Nomura, a major Japanese finance organisation, suggests that Bitcoin technology could be generating an additional 0.3% to the country's GDP.

Business Insider reported the information when it translated a client note which was issued by Kazuki Miyamoto and Yoshiyuki Suimon. The note praised a boost in consumer spending, which is believed to be a result of the fact that a large number of Japanese people are holding bitcoins.

2017 saw Japan take the international lead in terms of bitcoin-to-fiat trading, and the note states that the scale of this increase cannot be ignored. Japan has also introduced regulations which will aid the integration of Bitcoin technology into the country's economy.

This sentiment is poles apart from some of the doom and gloom produced by U.S media during the bitcoin price correction which occurred in late December 2017, with Sean Boyd, CEO of a coin mining company, saying that many investors will return to gold once they discover just how volatile bitcoin can be.

Other commentators have also predicted that bitcoin could crash to below the $5000 mark, but have not been able to predict when this could occur. It remains to be seen just how bitcoin will fare in 2018.