Looking back this past year, 2018 was a bad year for cryptocurrencies. It was a bearish market. And most likely, it was a test for many crypto investors whether or not to stay committed to their cryptocurrencies.
Hacking incidences and regulatory changes are just some of the things that caused the market to go bearish. From 2017’s near $20K for Bitcoin, Bitcoin is struggling to reach $4,000. In fact, there are experts who believe that Bitcoin is <a href="https://www.cryptocurrency365.com/news/pompliano-believes-bitcoin-is-going-below-3k/".
But despite the regulatory problems, there has been some progress. This time around, cryptocurrencies reached mainstream attention. In fact, there are banks that have partnered with Ripple in an attempt to lessen the cost of cross-border transactions. In addition to this, you have more Bitcoin ATMs in 2018. According to Jameson Lopp who is a Software developer and CasaHodl CTO, “The number of Bitcoin ATMs doubled to 4,000 in 2018, continuing a 3 year trend of 100% year over year growth”. But is this going to be the same trend? Considering now that Bitcoin has experienced one of the worst corrections in the past ten years?
Institutional Investors Are Hesitant?
There are those who remain optimistic regarding the future of Bitcoin. ShapeShift COO Jon mentioned that “2018 has been a year of growth and fast-paced technological innovation for companies across the industry, Yes, the bear market matters, but it’s a period of time with a beginning and an end, part of a cycle that repeats itself over the years”.
It has been reported that it seems that institutional investors are somewhat hesitant to commit to the market these days. Many were expecting that regulatory clarity could bring in institutional investors into play. But this wasn’t exactly the case. Until now, institutional investors still haven’t committed fully. There is still no Bitcoin ETF. In fact, SEC chairman Jay Clayton even mentioned that there should be changes in the market before the agency is going to be comfortable to have a Bitcoin ETF.
Crypto advocates and believers think that a Bitcoin ETF is needed in order to get more institutional investors into play. However, months ago, the agency rejected a number of Bitcoin ETF applications including that of the Winklevoss twins. The agency cited the possibility of price manipulation as their reason for the rejection.
Worst Investment of 2018?
Russian network of auditing firms FinExpertiza thinks that Bitcoin is the worst investment of 2018. If you are going to ask crypto enthusiasts, they’d think that Bitcoin is digital gold. However, this year, Bitcoin performed badly especially compared to other metal assets. But of course, it is imperative to also look at the future. It is possible that Bitcoin could turn things around especially if you are going to look at its history.
Bitcoin had its share of ups and downs. Is it possible for Bitcoin to go for another bull run this year? Or maybe, we haven’t seen the bottom of Bitcoin yet? Though Bitcoin performed badly this year, correction this bad is something that you can expect from the cryptocurrency. And also, regulatory changes could still change the game for the cryptocurrency market. Who knows if this is going to happen in 2019?
