Cryptocurrency — what the influencers think
We’ve rounded up some comments on the cryptocurrency market, on bitcoin and what some of them think will happen in 2018, such as Tom Lee who has been very bullish recently, predicting that bitcoin will reach $25,000 by the end of 2018.
Will cryptocurrency replace national currencies?
“Cryptocurrency is very much here to stay,” said futurist and author Thomas Frey. He predicts “cryptocurrencies are going to displace roughly 25% of national currencies by 2030. They’re just much more efficient, the way they run.” — Time.com 1 March 2018
The rise of cryptocurrencies over the past couple years represents “the legitimization of a new asset class emerging alongside the traditional global economy,” according to Dr. James Canton of the Institute for Global Futures. “I’d say you can expect an exponential increase of new investment vehicles to come from cryptofinance.” — Time.com 1 March 2018
“As the value goes up, heads start to swivel and skeptics begin to soften. Starting a new currency is easy, anyone can do it. The trick is getting people to accept it, because it is their use that gives the “money” value.” — Adam B. Levine CEO Tokenly Trading Beasts
Some views on Bitcoin
“Bitcoin is exciting because it shows how cheap it can be. Bitcoin is better than currency in that you don’t have to be physically in the same place and, of course, for large transactions, currency can get pretty inconvenient.” — Bill Gates Bloomberg
“When bitcoin currency is converted from currency into cash, that interface has to remain under some regulatory safeguards. I think the fact that within the bitcoin universe an algorithm replaces the function of the government …[that] is actually pretty cool.” — Al Gore Learning Bitcoin
“When I first heard about Bitcoin, I thought it was impossible. How can you have a purely digital currency? Can’t I just copy your hard drive and have your bitcoins? I didn’t understand how that could be done, and then I looked into it and it was brilliant.” — Jeff Garzik Bitcoin developer Medium
What will happen to the market in 2018?
“Increasing regulatory recognition of cryptocurrency exchanges, the entrance of institutional capital and major technology developments will contribute to the market’s rebound and push cryptocurrency prices to all new highs this year.” — Thomas Glucksmann, Gatecoin exchange, CNBC Feb 2018
“Historically, 10 days comprise all the performance in any single year of bitcoin’s price. If you just took out those 10 days, bitcoin’s down 25 percent a year. So as miserable as it feels holding bitcoin at $8,000, the move from $8,000 to $25,000 will happen in a handful of days.” — Tom Lee of Fundstrat CNBC
