A major expert in cryptocurrencies is contending that most of the field of coin contenders is going to be wiped out within a short time.
Speaking to Bloomberg recently (within the last 24 hours, actually,), Matt Hougan, Global Head of Research at Bitwise Asset Management and president at ETF.com, spoke at length about how 90 to 95% of today’s coins will probably not survive the long-term marketplace pressures.
Citing “bubble related activity” in the crypto world, Hougan mentioned how companies like Amazon, Google and Facebook emerged from the vestiges of the dot.com bubble.
He expects something similar with cryptocurrencies, which are just starting to really take off in a big way.
Hougan also echoed some of the sentiments of cautious investors who are looking at the greater context – he says he’s “more bullish on crypto assets” than he is on individual coins.
“If you remember the early days of the internet – everyone was really excited about corporate intranets,” Hougan said, according to Cointelegraph. “People thought corporate intranets were the thing. The analogy between an open internet which people are like no one will trust that…”
Interestingly, Hougan also gives props to the idea of a Bitcoin ETF – something that VanEck unsuccessfully floated to the US SEC last year, and something that would be a big game changer for Bitcoin and other coins.
BB called a Bitcoin ETF something that “gives that (crypto) exposure to everyone and makes it safe cheap and easy to gain exposure to in the market.”
Some of Hougan’s other comments are a lot more cryptic – for instance, his assertion that “people are going to jail” is pretty vague, and not many people have been talking about criminal liability related to cryptocurrencies, at least in a very concrete way.
In fact, last August, William Suberg, also at Cointelegraph, reported a vast decrease in crypto related crimes citing DEA numbers.
In some ways, comments like these are just armchair speculation. Then again, they do have worth to an audience that’s focused on future crypto values. It’s worth it for traders and investors to pay attention to these kinds of sentiments, because they’re going to direct both trading activity and market behavior. Long story short – Hougan and others believe that instead of jumping onto some of these altcoins, traders should be looking at secondary markets or secondary companies to try to pick winners in tomorrow’s crypto market.