The prolonged cryptocurrency bear market, otherwise known as crypto winter, has been grueling and arduous, and it has taken its toll. The market initially started to collapse in December 2017 for Bitcoin, and early 2018 for the majority of alternative cryptocurrencies. With plenty of startups forced to close their doors, how much longer will crypto winter last?
Longest Ever Crypto Winter?
The past 6 months have seen continuously lower prices, both with Bitcoin and cryptos across the board. This sets the record for the length of time that Bitcoin has been in the red, for its entire 10-year history. It’s no surprise that even the most diehard believers in crypto are starting to get jumpy. This begs the question… will we see a 7th consecutive red month for the first time in Bitcoin’s history?
We’ll soon find out. But unfortunately, according to an array of experts in the crypto industry, crypto winter is far from over.
Mike Novogratz, the long-time crypto bull and founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital, admits that crypto winter will probably last longer than he initially anticipated. However, despite his bearish sentiment, Novogratz remains confident that institutional investment is coming.
Novogratz took to Twitter to share his opinions, all the while reassuring his followers that there is a recovery down the line… it just might take us a while to get there.
Realizing having tweeted about crypto in a while. It’s a grind. Don’t think we head north for at least a few more months. Always take longer for institutions to move. Very confident they will. Tons of activity under the hood. Stay the course.
— Michael Novogratz (@novogratz) February 1, 2019
Crypto Winter to Last Another 12-24 Months?
Eric Larchevêque, the CEO of Ledger, a cryptocurrency and blockchain security company, said in an interview with CCN that the current crypto bear market could last for 12-24 more months. According to Larchevêque, cryptocurrency prices go through different cycles, just like any other market.
While he believes we still have a long ways to go, he is confident the market will turn bullish again. To prepare for a much lower projected revenue, Larchevêque said that his development team was adapting the growth of the company to survive another 2 years of bear market.
Moreover, in regards to Ledger’s institutional customer base, Larchevêque revealed their views on cryptocurrency as well as the tokenization of assets:
“[Our institutional clients] believe in crypto as some kind of investment vehicle but they also believe in the future of tokenization. That we will have some kind of bonds, stocks, securities or fiat money with tokens. And they want to prepare themselves by having the back office ready first.”
Therefore, it’s evident that institutional interest in cryptocurrency has not faded. Rather, the market must run its course, and when it’s ready, institutional clients will be too.
Crypto Market Trying to Find Its Floor (Market Bottom)
Another opinion on this crypto winter comes from Mati Greenspan, eToro’s in-house crypto researcher, who believes the market is looking for a floor. In an interview with Cointelegraph (see video below), Greenspan stated that while $3,000 is clear support for Bitcoin, he believes it will to go down in order to find its fair value.
Another notable cryptocurrency expert agreeing with Greenspan is Anthony Pompliano, better known as Pomp. During the same interview, Pomp said that Bitcoin will continue to see lower prices as he doesn’t believe the bottom has been found yet. Providing a price target, Pomp predicts the bottom to be in the mid-$2,000 range.
What do you think the Bitcoin bottom will be? Or have we already reached a market bottom? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
