Will the cryptocurrencies disappear within 10 years?
Few of us could have imagined only a few years ago the phenomenal success of peer-to-peer payment systems. Of course, only a few hundred specialists knew about Bitсoin and then its few colleagues in 2009 (the year of launching the first cryptocurrency).
Nevertheless, literally six years after the first transaction, cryptocurrencies are succeeding not only in securing and gaining a foothold in the world financial market, but in essence, creating a fundamentally new segment in the structure of the world economy. Despite the active development of promising ICO startups and the stable growth of capitalization of several dozen of the most popular cryptocurrencies, leading experts in the financial market disagree about the future prospects of peer-to-peer payment systems.
The ups and downs of Bitcoin back in March 2017, caused quite a stir. Bitcoin as an undisputed leader in terms of capitalization (up to 35% of all digital payment systems) cost no more than $1,000 to begin with. Over the last year, the rate of one coin has grown by 20 times, reaching a mark of $20,000 .
It would seem that stable positive dynamics increasing investments would naturally result in a jump in the price of one token. After all, the demand for Bitcoin far exceeded the supply. Therefore, according to all laws of the market, its value should continue to grow, but it has not.
Already, at the very beginning of 2018, there have been several absolutely unpredictable landslides, which significantly lowered the rate of the token. In just one week, Bitcoin lost 30–40% of its value, and on January 31, it fell below the mark of $10,000.
The fact that the Bitcoin rate is subject to incredible volatility has been seen before. Such phenomenal ups and downs, in principle, have quite understandable reasons. However, is it worthwhile to rely on digital money in this case? Perhaps such chaos and instability is the beginning of the end?
Upcoming prospects Skoropalitelnye concludeit’s unlikely any of the experienced players and analysts of the financial market will take predictions of the sudden collapse of the crypt segment seriously.
Some hotheads, for example, such as the Nobel Prize winner in economics Robert Schiller, publicly declare crypto economics “the economic effect of soap bubbles.” However, such arguments lack real facts to counter the realitythat market capitalization of cryptocurrencies today is $494 billion US, and, despite individual leaps, is steadily growing. According to market experts, in the next two to three years, peer-to-peer payment systems will continue to develop actively by attracting investments from not only ICO startups, but also owners of large financial and banking institutions. In any case, interest in the integration of leading cryptocurrencies into the standard system of settlements has already been seen in Asian commercial banks and some authoritative exchanges. A fantastic breakthrough in digital money could provide them with official legitimacy and support from state regulated institutions, but the leading countries of the world are still watching closely, and most often try to limit the free circulation of digital money.
Still, in the near future, new successful block-projects are expected to be aimed at directly solving the problem of legalizing the use of cryptocurrencies, their official integration into the system of the world economy, and creation of safe and transparent conditions for the turnover of services and goods.
A little about the risks
As we have already noted, demand generates supply. However, in the case of cryptocurrency, this golden economic rule may not work. After all, the real value of any digital currency is primarily based on the trust and internal investments of the users themselves. Bitcoin and its colleagues are not backed up by gold, oil, goods and services produced in this or that region of the world. Throwing away the extra pathos and intrigue, it is necessary to recognize that block-technology allows users to issue their own digital money to almost anyone interested.
And users want more than enough as seen by the more than 300 names of cryptocurrencies already in circulation — and their quantity monthly grows. But new does not mean best. In fact, in the near future, it is quite logical to expect the collapse and closure of 80–90% of block-projects due to insufficient capitalization. Only the strongest survive and their names are already known.
Let’s look into the future
It is worth noting that the cryptocurrency market is now in the process of its initial formation. Experts suggest the fate of Bitcoin in the future will be enlivened by the development of the global financial system. Already, new products and markets are appearing that wait only for their financial instruments and solutions. In any case, the chances that such solutions will become digital money are very real.
