On January 13, the crypto industry’s market cap dipped by $5 billion in total. Bitcoin dropped below $3,500 momentarily while other major cryptocurrencies also experienced dropped in price as well. As for the short term forecast of some crypto experts, many believe that Bitcoin is headed below $3,000.
Keep in mind that the price of Bitcoin in 2017 during its peak was at near $20K. Unfortunately, during the CNBC debate, Jeff Schumacher who is the founder of BCG Digital Ventures mentioned that “I do believe it will go to zero. I think it’s a great technology but I don’t believe it’s a currency. It’s not based on anything”.
Bitcoin Headed to Zero?
Schumacher has been known as a big investor in blockchain-related firms. However, there were others who see the utility in Bitcoin. Glenn Hutchins who is the co-founder of Silver Lake Partners thinks that Bitcoin will be used as a store of value in the coming years.
He said that “It might be that the role of Bitcoin in the system could be to bring value, back, to hold your value there while you have tokens that have other use cases that you aren’t using at the moment”. For Hutchins, he is also focused on blockchain technology rather than Bitcoin itself. He mentioned that “I am much less interested in investing around Bitcoin as currency unit or a currency equivalent, or even the blockchain as an accounting ledger”
Adoption for 2019?
Where do cryptocurrencies go from here? Adoption is something that many crypto observers are waiting for. Unfortunately, though there was certainly interest from institutional investors, mass adoption still hasn’t really happened. Slowly though, there are a growing number of crypto ATMs worldwide. In addition to this, you even have countries like Venezuela that has relied on cryptocurrencies due to hyperinflation.
Edith Yeung thinks that “Many developing countries, where to start with they don’t have credit cards, there’s no particular infrastructure, it’s almost easier to see sort of blockchain-enabled payments, to see in Asia, you will see more action happening in Asia more than US and Europe”.
In Japan, there are a growing number of companies that are now accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Japan has been known as one of those countries that made it possible to create regulations that are pro-crypto.
Bitcoin ETF?
However, regulatory clarity in other parts of the world isn’t exactly looking good. For the US Securities and Exchange Commission, apart from the fact that the agency targeted ICOs and celebrities who endorsed these unregistered securities, the SEC is still hesitant to approve a Bitcoin ETF.
Many believe that a Bitcoin ETF could bring another bull run as it could get more investors to enter the picture including institutional investors. According to a survey by Bitwise Asset Management, 58% of American investors are willing to invest in Bitcoin via ETF.
For crypto analyst Brian Kelly, he believes that Bitcoin ETF won’t happen this year. However, he is quite optimistic about the future of cryptocurrencies considering the many “geopolitical tension in the world”. Could it be possible that Bitcoin reaches zero? Or will Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies recover?
