If you’re looking to invest, Bitcoin is probably not a good option right now, or is it?
The cryptocurrency market was worth an estimated US$819 billion in January this year, that number has plummeted 80% to US$139.7 billion this week.
Last Monday, one Bitcoin was equivalent to about RM20,000, today the same Bitcoin is worth less than RM17,000. That’s a 15% drop in a week.
And even after such a massive decline, experts are saying the value in crypto is expected to plummet further with Bitcoin expected to go as a low as US$2,500 (RM10,500) per Bitcoin by January 2019.
It would seem that Bitcoin (along with the over 2,000 indexed Cryptocurrencies) is losing its allure. The promise of a decentralised, transparent and secure economy is starting to look like a pipe-dream, a victim of infighting between crypto-communities, subject to increased regulatory scrutiny and other complications.
So is there light at the end of the tunnel for cyptocurrencies?
Ironically, some believe involvement from regulators and banks will be the factor to take cryptocurrencies to the next level.
“Bitcoin’s latest plunge is evidence of the need for greater regulatory oversight to give a boost to investor confidence,” said Herbert Sim, the chief commercial officer at Cryptology, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Singapore, told Forbes. “There is already a huge amount of capital tied up in cryptocurrencies, in excess of $100 billion, so why allow it to continue being a rogue market?
“In order for the space to move forward and investor confidence to settle, regulators need to put standards in place to separate the weeds from the roses in the cryptocurrency world. Having oversight of the cryptocurrency Wild West will Cryptocurrencies, and subsequently stabilize the industry, which will allow it to reach the next step of maturity.”
