Originally posted by Soothsayer
Next to nobody is buying them anymore. Volume is way down - why would you put your hard earned money into something corrupt, manipulated and totally unregulated? Hard-core crypto maniacs will fight and deny such statements, but the truth is that despite the usefulness of blockchain as a technology, MOST cryptocurrencies themselves do not have any useful application. And even if they did, it doesn’t give the cyptocurrency itself any intrinsic value.
The business might have some intellectual property or viable way of making money from their technology, but the coin itself? What’s it useful for? What can you do with it? Nobody really knows what will happen with cryptos, and I myself strongly doubt cryptocurrency will become “legit”. Time will tell. I kind of think it is "telling"...
A lot of people's faith in cryptocurrency has shaken and they have learnt a lesson to not invest in something they do not understand and so now the market is correcting itself.
I was out for dinner the other night with friends family and a few randoms I didn't know... we were all chatty and drinks were going down nicely.. about a hour in someone started talking to me about the stock market and if I thought it was going to crash alike the GFC moment... I shared some of my thoughts and I made a statement that I thought cryptos's will continue to crash hard... To my surprise everyone was quiet and starred at me, about 10 people at our table... then one person said, what is crypto currency? ... I looked around the table and could see the puzzled faces... I asked does anyone know what Crptocurrency or blockchain is... no one, absolutely no one knew what I was talking about... then I said what about Bitcoin.. to which they said, "heard of it, dont understand it..." I asked the table if they wanted me to given them a 5 minute run down on what crypto and blockchain was, surprisingly they were all ears... when I finished I said what do you all think... to which a few of them said "thats crazy man, why would any one put money into that, are they just gambling and living in hope..." ....... one young lady said loudly "it sounds like rich people have figured another way to con people out if their money for nothing"... In truth the subject fizzled rather fast, we all went on drinking and laughing etc etc... but I couldn't help thinking, here I am with 10 people aging from early 20's to mid 40's and everyone thought crypto sounded like a con... the bear market is now proving that there is little to no interest in these plays as most of them arnt even asset backed..
The only way the bull market will return to crypto's will be when they start to prove a real necessity in the real world of financial transactions.. due to the volatility of cryptos I dont think it will ever happen... As a business man I would never except crypto as currency, as payment is delayed via transfer and it could have lost high %'s in the process of transfer... Fiat currency is no where as volatile...I personally think the bear market has only just started in the crypto world... hundreds of ICO's and Crypto's are just going to vanish next year... over 2000 crypto's and tokens, over 90% are useless for and have no real worth.. this is a gamblers game...
In the current volatility of the over all stock market, crypto plays would be a massive high risk... if you can read charts and understand the markets in general then there could be some easy money to by made here by shorting such stocks
Hi Soothsayer,
Like all HC members, you certainly have the right to share your opinion on the stock market.
There are times you make quite insightful contributions to discussions which I have agreed with in the past. However, this post seems to lack
factual evidence and clearly carries a very negative tone.
The dinner party anecdote is a weak attempt to dismiss the legitimacy of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology and the amount of mainstream attention they receive. I guess it's subjective - it depends who you talk to and whether they have their heads in the sand hey?
I'm not sure where you've read that "no one is buying" crypto's.
"The prolonged bear cryptocurrency market, coupled with reports of scams, has not dampened investors’ interest in initial coin offerings (ICOs) this year. Contrary to expectations, token sales volume for the first nine months of 2018 alone doubled compared with the total ICO volume last year."
"For comparison, ICO volume from Jan. 1 up to Sept. 30 is almost double the total token sales for the entire 2017. According to data from CoinSchedule, the total ICO volume last year is only $6.56 billion."
Read more here:
ICO Volume Doubles in 2018 Despite Slump in the Crypto Market
You raised the topics of "corruption, manipulation and lack of regulation". Two things to be aware of are the forthcoming ETF regulation and Bakkt.
Bakkt offers a point of entry for financial institutions and businesses interested in cryptocurrency. Through this initiative, it will join the ranks of a small group of businesses offering cryptocurrency investment solutions to corporate clients.
Read more here:
Bakkt to the Future: a digital exchange in a physical world
Following on with your views on institutional investors entering the Crypto space, Bakkt has that covered with its initial slate of venture capital firms. If these firms are willing to stick their necks into the crypto arena, so the thinking goes, it’s just a hop-skip-jump for even larger firms to come onboard. This is particularly likely if Bakkt plays by the regulatory rules and secures approval for its operations moving forward.Oddly, this argument also works in reverse. If big-ticket investors are fine with Bakkt’s operations, then it follows that small-time investors should come on-board, as well. It’s a known fact in the financial world that little money follows big money, the way little fish trail bigger fish to feed on scraps. If a large venture capital firm is confident in Bakkt, the firms that look to it for guidance will follow suit. This has the potential to bring in a slew of capital from previously untouched resources — credit unions, retirement accounts, and 401(k)s. By nature, these types of holdings need to be conservative. They exist, after all, to help investors prepare for the future. Without significant institutional backers, the crypto market has been famously volatile. In kind of a vicious circle, that lack of institutional money due to volatility has prevented an injection of capital which could keep volatility to a minimum. It’s obvious, then, that Bakkt’s entry into the market can only calm the fears of naturally conservative investment vehicles.
Read more here:
https://blockonomi.com/what-is-bakkt/
Investors rightly see an approval for Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC as the single-biggest growth catalyst the cryptocurrency industry has seen to date. Although the SEC rejected several proposals for Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, it has softened its stance towards the industry in a series of steps over recent months by having the proposals reviewed again, and by more recently inviting investor opinions about the pros and cons of a Bitcoin-linked ETF. While little has been done over the months to alleviate the SEC’s fears of widespread market manipulation in cryptocurrency trading (which still remains a stumbling block when it comes to an actual approval), the SEC’s willingness to give the proposals a chance should drive Bitcoin prices higher in the near future. Read more here:
Optimism Surrounding SEC's Bitcoin ETF Approval Could Boost Bitcoin Price Massively By Mid-2019
If you have some time, it may be worth getting up to speed with Security Token Offerings (STO's) also.
Banking on Security Token Offerings (STO)
If you're having difficulty wrapping your head around the concept of digital currency and it's purpose, I recommend having a read of Satoshi's Whitepaper,
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
