The crypto industry 2019 is on an upward trend. If the year 2018 was unanimously considered “crypto winter”, this year was a frigid spring. Bitcoin’s price began to “thaw” gradually, reaching up to $ 13,800 by mid-year.
The $ 10,000 increase pleased the community, but the euphoria didn’t last long. In part, Facebook’s Libra project is to blame, as it has generated a wave of negative reactions from regulatory authorities. After the Libra whitepaper was published in June, most governments and central banks panicked.
Cryptocurrency Libra, a threat to governments
A stable cryptocurrency issued and controlled by an association of private companies is considered a threat to the financial industry. In addition, it has been proposed by Facebook, a platform with over 2 billion users worldwide. The association that was to handle cryptocurrency included VISA, Mastercard and other giants with massive influence in the payment processing industry.
The US Congress and other US authorities immediately put pressure on Libra members. As a result, nine members left the organization and announced they would not support the project.
The Libra has brought cryptocurrencies to the public’s attention with negative consequences. US President Donald Trump commented that
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are volatile, are not based on anything and facilitate illegal activities because they are not regulated.”
Similar comments were made by the Secretary of the US Treasury.
Other governments have expressed a negative attitude towards the Libra, and the effect has expanded on the crypto market in general. The crypto community has perceived the comments of the authorities as a possible risk of harsh regulation of this industry. The price of Bitcoin has started to fall, facilitated by the lack of enthusiasm on the market.
Crypto industry 2019 influenced by pyramid schemes
Analysts have claimed that the Chinese PlusToken Ponzi scheme is partly to blame for the massive sales. Apparently, the wallets associated with this scam contain over 187,000 BTC, which are being sold gradually on various exchanges.
Institutional investors are left waiting
On the other hand, institutional interest in cryptocurrencies is growing slower than analysts expected. Bakkt was expected to launch the futures contracts, but it turned out that it did not generate the explosion of expected involvement. Bakkt volumes are growing every day, and other companies are launching new crypto funds and derivatives dedicated to institutional investors.
The bottom line is that the crypto market has begun to thaw, but there is still a long way to go before mass adoption. Although the hash rate and network activity are rising, the price of Bitcoin has failed to return to record highs in 2017. Analysts set their hopes for the half-block event that will take place in May 2020. Historically, this has generated massive price increases for BTC.
But if Bitcoin has proven something throughout history, it is not in line with traditional analytical models.
Despite the slowdown in the second half of this year, bitcoin’s annual performance is positive. Its price has doubled compared to December 2018, far surpassing other assets such as gold and S&P shares. Gold rose 15 percent, while the S&P index is currently reporting a 28 percent gain for 2019.
Retrospective of the year 2019 – Technology, legislation, adoption, security and price!
Overall, the crypto industry 2019 was therefore an unstable spring for the crypto market, with major price fluctuations. It remains to be seen what 2020 will bring.
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