As 2019 kicks off, crypto traders and investors everywhere are looking for answers as to what’s in store for Bitcoin and crypto as a whole this year. The industry saw substantial losses in value in 2018, and the overall cryptocurrency market cap is currently down 84% from its all-time high.
With this figure in mind, how much lower could we possibly go?
An 84% pullback is already quite substantial, and it’s hard to imagine prices dropping even further. This perspective is shared by many, including a number of notable members in the cryptocurrency space.
Is Now the Time to Buy Bitcoin (BTC)?
Paul Veradittakit, a partner at the San Francisco-based Pantera Capital, prominent venture capitalist, and advisor to Blockfolio and Icon, was recently interviewed by CoinTelegraph, along with other notable experts in the crypto field.
During the interview, Veradittakit expressed confidence that now is a great time to buy Bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies. He claimed that it is highly probable that Bitcoin will go up in price in the short to medium term.
The Pantera partner believes the crypto markets are still strongly correlated and alternative cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and others will surge in price along with Bitcoin (BTC).
He believes diversification is key, stating:
“Putting all your eggs in one basket is probably not a good strategy. So either investing into an index, or investing into a bunch of them that you’re really passionate about, or even going to a fund manager [to run your holdings is logical].”
Are We Nearing a Bitcoin (BTC) Bottom?
In addition to Veradittakit’s bullish sentiment, the leading venture capitalist and co-founder of Union Square Ventures, Fred Wilson, believes we’re nearing a bottom in the nascent crypto asset class.
Wilson published a post called “What is Going to Happen in 2019?” in his well-recognized blog, where he touched on a number of topics, including Bitcoin and other crypto assets.
After the significant pullback the crypto market experienced in 2018, Wilson believes a bottom in many of the digital assets is in reach.
However, contrary to Veradittakit’s short to medium-term bullish sentiment, Wilson believes that finding the bottom will take up most of the year. However, he does admit that there will be a number of bullish runs followed by significant selling pressures that could lead Bitcoin to test its yearly lows of $3,150.
Another prominent crypto community member, Anthony Pompliano of Morgan Creek, believes that we will see a Bitcoin bottom in 2019, and it will be below $3,000.
Not only do Wilson and Veradittakit believe Bitcoin is nearing its bottom and now is a good time to invest in the asset class, numerous other prominent figureheads share this opinion.
For instance, Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and the founder of ConsenSys, recently tweeted to his large following that the bottom is near:
I am calling the cryptobottom of 2018. This bottom is marked by an epic amount of fear, uncertainty, and doubt from our friends in the 4th and crypto-5th estates.
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) December 21, 2018
Overall, the sentiment among prominent crypto community members is that a Bitcoin bottom is very close, and it will be reached in 2019 — if it hasn’t already.
Conclusion
While nobody knows what will happen for sure, we can expect 2019 to be an eventful year. There are many things to be excited about in the cryptosphere, one of which is the launch of Bakkt.
Bakkt is a viable fiat on-ramp for institutional investors, and is backed by the Intercontinental Exchange, Starbucks, and Microsoft.
The launch of Bakkt is rumored to be delayed once again, but we can expect it sometime in early 2019.
Another thing to look forward to in 2019 is the development of scalability projects like Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and Ethereum’s scaling solutions such as Constantinople and early iterations of Serenity.
All in all, there is much to look forward to in 2019 — price action is just one of many.
Do you think we have already seen Bitcoin’s (BTC) bottom, or will it be reached in 2019? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
