We can all agree that Consensus 2018 wasn’t a good week for cryptocurrencies. Despite the celebrities and Lamborghinis, Consensus 2018 failed to meet expectations. In fact, last week, Bitcoin was suffering from bears to the point that Bitcoin even fell below $8,000 briefly. Bitcoin was experiencing a downward price since May 5 when it was about to get to the $10K price point or midway point of its all-time high. However, the price of Bitcoin has risen by $500.
The Rally Didn’t Happen
A good number of analysts were hopeful before Consensus 2018 that Bitcoin is going to have a bullish run after the conference. However, the price boost that they were expecting never took place. And this was reflected on all major cryptos. Digital currency prices fell by an average of 10{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} during the Consensus week.
Tom Lee, who earlier claimed that he expects Bitcoin rally to be “even larger than past years”, had no other choice but to own up to his wrong prediction. He then pointed out the possible reasons from the lack of institutional custody tools to the lack of regulatory clarity within the crypto space.
But it isn’t far from over yet. In fact, Tom Lee is sticking to his forecast that Bitcoin is headed towards $25,000 by the end of 2018. Is this optimism or simply hopeful thinking? He mentioned that “crypto still faces significant internal resistance and hurdles within traditional financial institutions. But it is encouraging nonetheless, that a large share of incremental attendance are financial institutions”.
Whales Into The Picture
Many are anticipating the entry of large capital via institutional investors. In fact, there are already businesses that are making their move because of this. LMAX Exchange Group announced that they are going to bring the first-ever crypto exchange dedicated to institutional investors only. It is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, this aims to bring legitimacy to the crypto market. And also, this is an attempt to jump first into the possible large capital.
The CEO of LMAX Exchange, David Mercer mentioned in a press release that:
“The rise of institutional trading of cryptocurrencies will be a game-changer for the industry. We believe our new exchange will support the transformation of the crypto market from the fringes to the mainstream. Digital currencies are, without a doubt, coming of age. Exchanges will play a crucial role in bringing major cryptocurrencies into wider circulation, helping them to become accepted into conventional funds which in turn will help to support a normalization of value”.
Goldman Sachs has already announced that they are working with clients in order to get more exposure to Bitcoin when it comes to their investment strategy. In fact, a startup backed by Goldman Sachs, Circle, even introduced a cryptocurrency that is aimed to be the digital version of the US dollar.
Considering the possibility that whales are about to enter the picture, we may be seeing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to have another bullish run soon. But could Bitcoin actually surpass its all-time high soon? Now, that remains to be seen in the coming months.
