Bitcoin is floating around 50,000 USD. The current price being 49,000 USD (the all-time high being 69,000 USD), it saw a flourishing surge of over 66 percent from January 2021.
The top crypto is now down by a good 30 percent from its record-breaking price of 69,000 USD, which it hit in November.
How is the future looking for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?
You have to be an old megalomaniac to deny that crypto is not the future. The market cap of all the cryptocurrencies in circulation is more than $3.10 trillion, and bitcoin alone stands for a whopping $1.3 trillion.
At this very moment, Etherum is trying its best to cover the gap. Ethereum is a very popular crypto for various smart contracts and buying NFT (non-fungible tokens) that are taking over the art and collectibles world by storm, having a market value of $664 billion.
Ether is rising at a staggering speed, and this year might have been the best as it went from $1,021 per coin to $5,600.
There are various bitcoin EFTs (exchange-traded funds) for individual or retail investors to choose from now. ETFs investing in many top cryptos can be in the cards, too.
The head of institutional product and ETFs and the senior vice president at Natixis Investment Managers, Nick Elward, commented that the most paramount step is to emerge ETFs for other coins to launch. For example, there can be a new ether ETF in the starting months of 2022.
Big players are investing in crypto-like institutional and professional investors, and these also include top fund managers such as Stanley Druckenmiller and George Soros. The recent drops of Bitcoin remind the folks how aggressively volatile Bitcoin and all other Altcoins prices can be.
Might crypto see a little calm winter?
As bitcoin started growing popular in 2017, prices started to purge on a staggering level from $1,400 to approximately $28,000 by December of 2017.
Then came the very first crash, and Bitcoin fell drastically as low as $5,000 by the end of 2018. Then, of course, the prices started to recover again, but it took a greater span of time until December 2020, and the coin was back again to 28,000.
The volatility of crypto prices and swings in the crypto prices are going to stay in the market. The expert’s comment that the investors have to learn to ride with waves and endure the ups and downs.
Anton Chaschin commented via an email to CNN Business that we have seen the market correct itself countless times, and if institutional investors use this for their profit, it will create a ripple effect. He is the Managing Partner of Bitfrost, a digital assets service provider.
He also commented that large firms are more likely to flock to bitcoin as it is an answer to hedge against rising interest rates and inflation, which will affect the traditional government-backed currencies. He added even if the institutional investors are doing this because of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), all institutional level decisions are made after careful consideration and expert advice. All this results in the firms getting a huge benefit from the crypto market.
The volatility of the crypto market can be fought with the help of increased adoption and legitimacy of various cryptocurrencies. The prices will sharply keep moving up, but the market will not be this aggressive as it has been.
John Wu commented that larger institutions with big pockets and sturdy hand investing and buying crypto would help with the volatility problem. He is the president of Ava Labs, an ethereum-compatible blockchain firm.
World beyond Bitcoin
Elward from Natixis Investment believes that many fund managers will dive into cryptocurrencies and will have to move ahead of passively run Bitcoin ETFs that mimic the path of Bitcoin futures. He added that active is a smart fit for crypto investors. He expects more managers will analyze the most appropriate ones to buy.
He continued that crypto is a God-given extension of the rumored alternative investment world. It is way ahead of stocks and bonds that are made up of gold and other precious metals.
Many experts think that Ether and Binance Coin, the world’s third most powerful cryptocurrency, will continue to gain more power against bitcoin.
Alex Lemberg, the CEO, commented that you have to look at the importance of cryptos. Ether can grow bigger than Bitcoin, and he is the Nimbus Platform, a decentralized finance lending firm.
Mr. Wu of Ava Labs also thinks that investors will eventually leave bitcoin behind. He is expecting more diversity in the crypto world, and the prices will be based on adoption.