With Bitcoin coming closer to $4000, the whole crypto industry is still struggling from hitting a relative low on the year last week.
Since the beginning of 2018, Bitcoin is down by almost 80% since peaking close to $20,000 in December 2017.
For some, the fall in Bitcoin price and the broader altcoin gives a warning which has led to widespread negativity, selling out, and a soured mood towards cryptocurrency and blockchain-based assets.
EWN yesterday reported that a very good number of crypto-based startups have been forced to either reduce a significant number of their staff or close shop as a result of the ongoing bear market.
While the sorry state of the crypto industry has led to some lamenting what holds for the future of cryptocurrencies–and others saying Bitcoin is dead for the 300th time, some others see 2018 as a severe correction, but overall miscue for an industry that is still experiencing growing pains on the way to broader adoption and more focused development.
Financial outlet Bloomberg on Friday, held a Crypto Summit in London, with a series of panelists suggesting that the industry is simply going through a temporary setback that will eventually see the market back on the expectation-shattering pace that characterized the end of 2017.
James Bevan (Chief Investment Officer at CCL Investment Management), Speaking on the panel, gave hope to investors who still believe in cryptos despite the falling market year: “I don’t regard this as an existential crisis, I just regard it as a bump in the road and institutional investors have had plenty of bumps in the road in conventional currencies and transaction systems.”
Interestingly, panelists noted the areas of stable coins and digital contracts as two potential avenues for the expansion of cryptocurrency in 2019 and beyond.
While digital contracts has been a familiar mainstay in crypto, with Ethereum seen as the industry leader for executing smart contracts, the rise of stablecoins has characterized 2018 in much the same way that “blockchain” became a buzzword throughout last year.
