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David Drake

March 2, 2018 Article

Will the Cryptocurrency Market Regain Traction After 2018's Rocky Start?


2018 started on a very slow note for the cryptocurrency market. During the month of January 2018, the market experienced a mass cryptocurrency sell-off due to uncertainties created by impending regulations in China and South Korea. As a result, major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, lost up to 30% of their value. Despite this challenge, the cryptocurrency market is once again proving its resilience.

"Cryptos in general, and Bitcoin in particular, have displayed remarkable resilience to volatile conditions since their inception. In many ways, crypto has pushed professional traders to reevaluate the way they trade. It's an emerging market with a multitude of new traders, and those factors can cause high volatility, but smart traders know that blockchain is the future and crypto is the place to be. The world is learning what crypto is and what it can do for the financial sector. Stability will come with time. My advice for crypto traders is always, buy on dips," notes Roman Guelfi-Gibbs, CEO of
Pinnacle Brilliance.

Even so, the slow adoption of cryptocurrencies is still evident as mainstream payment mediums are yet to happen. According to
Shivom Co-founder and CEO, Gourish Singla, this is a fact that’s reducing the pace in which cryptocurrencies are gaining traction.

He says, "Cryptocurrencies will slowly replace the old payment systems. Despite the boom we witnessed in 2017, the adoption in the population is still in its infancy. Of course, they will still be highly volatile in the near future and people will still have to find out which cryptos to use for paying bills and which ones to use for investments."

However, there are indications that digital currencies, such as Ripple, that use blockchain technology to solve real problems are likely to gain mainstream adoption sooner or later. Already, Western Union is running trials on Ripple's blockchain platform.

But as the year progresses, some players in the industry feel that currencies resulting from platforms that address real problems will experience high adoption in the market, which will drive their growth.

Jin Dowling, CEO at
CryptoTrust, says, “I believe this year we will start seeing a clearer separation of various cryptocurrencies, how they are perceived and the roles they play in incorporating the underlying technology of the blockchain. Alongside this I feel projects that are building platforms to encourage development and adoption will thrive and enjoy growth over 2018.”

There’s no doubt that after a rocky start in 2018, the cryptocurrency will recover and experience remarkable growth. However, it’s hard to tell which of the the 1500+ virtual currencies currently listed on the coin market will continue on the growth trajectory and which one will not.





Disclaimer: David Drake is on the advisory board for most of the firms mentioned or quoted in this article.


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