The blockchain/crypto week in quotes

“Every morning I wake up reading about the rise and decline of crypto and I am fascinated by the incredibly technical and visually sophisticated graphs predicting its future that borderline an art project.

Ultimately we are dealing with a new technology and new asset that is highly speculative, illiquid, and elusive, and drivers for its rise and fall is anyone’s guess and can be attributed by the media to anything from Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to SEC regulations to market fever. But without a doubt I believe that blockchain and cryptocurrencies have a place in our future and the roller coaster volatility that we are seeing today is something we are going to have to live with for a while until we will start using crypto to buy chewing gum.” Misha Libman, Co-founder, Snark.art 

“Despite the price in cryptocurrency dipping over the past year, the fundamentals are looking positive. Even in the bear market, crypto job prospects have increased fourfold since 2017. Usability has become increasingly more widespread – from government adoption to healthcare benefits – and countries such as Dubai, Estonia, Japan, Israel and Switzerland are among those that are already seeing the benefits of crypto and blockchain technology. Furthermore, the Ethereum network now has more than 48 million unique addresses and 12 thousand nodes, and development tools and sources are growing rapidly, with Truffle Suite downloads breaching one million.

It has been good to see global enterprises, such as Ernst Young and Morgan Stanley, are also investing in crypto for business benefits. EY has started introducing zero-knowledge proofs on Ethereum, while Morgan Stanley has declared crypto a new institutional asset class. I expect more enterprises to investigate how they integrate blockchain and crypto into their business in the new year, as more institutional money is invested into these technologies.” José Maria Macedo, Head of Advisory, AmaZix

“None of our plans have changed. We are still pushing forward very aggressively.” Zhao Changpeng, CEO, Binance

“When the dotcom boom of the 90s occurred, ‘all hype, no substance’ concerns were raised. When smartphones started becoming popular, similar concerns were raised. There’s no doubt that there’s a similar boom occurring in the blockchain market, and some of the technology being created is the kind of exploratory products critics will point to.

I strongly believe that blockchain is a real technology which will have a lasting impact, though perhaps not in the same way as current market trends are headed. Like any new technology, we’ll have to see how it evolves.” Aaron Contorer, CEO, FP Complete

“Many people lost their faith in big banks back in 2008 and they’ve done little to change since and out of that a groundswell movement towards a decentralised economy has been gathering pace and the longer it survives the more trust builds.

It’s sad that Bitcoin got derailed by developer groups who changed the original Bitcoin design and vision; that’s been a distraction but now with Bitcoin SV, we have restored the original protocol.” Calvin Ayre

“This is a mania built on something real. I am certain we will have a digital store of wealth. I think it will be Bitcoin.” Galaxy Digital’s Michael Novogratz

“Bitcoin is dead, it’s too fragmented, there’s tons of infighting. I just don’t think it will last. It may have a bull market or two left in it, but long-term, it’s dead.

Litecoin has been dead for a while. It’s like when the sun is going down and there’s that eight minute period just before it goes dark. Litecoin is in its seventh minute.” Erik Finman

“One year on from Bitcoin’s all-time high, many are questioning how cryptoassets are valued, and whether they are a sensible investment. As a relatively new concept, cryptoassets are still finding their feet in terms of value. It’s important to remember that all assets, in every market, experience a process of price discovery, and that cryptos are no different. Given the rapid growth of the crypto industry in the past years, this process has been accelerated, but long-term investors should not be deterred.

Since its inception 10 years ago, Bitcoin has already experienced four retracements, similar to what we’ve seen in the past year. Bitcoin will find its natural centre of gravity, it’s just a matter of time.” Mati Greenspan, Senior Market Analyst, eToro