As Bitcoin continues another rally this morning, many investors are looking at longer time frames for the cryptocurrency’s success.
“For crypto markets, the second quarter of this year has been the best three-month sequence since the bear turn of early 2018 put a brutal end to the dreams that the explosive growth of coin prices was to go on forever,” writes Kirill Bryanov this morning at Cointelegraph, in a run-down of Q2 2019, including total crypto market cap action moving from $114 billion to $339 billion – more than doubling, for whoever’s counting.
Interestingly, Bryanov cites “institutional adoption” as one of various metrics showing that this rally is not just about price, and not a superficial increase in value.
Another great marker is growing volumes on top exchanges, as we’ve reported in the past.
Bryanov also notes a study by Price Waterhouse Cooper and Swiss Crypto Valley Association showing that February of this year was a low point for total digital asset value, and that Bitcoin’s subsequent soaring pushed the cryptocurrency market up.
“As the first quarter of the year concluded, the movement grew steeper, inspired by bitcoin’s rapid advance,” he writes. “The original digital asset continued to lead the charge throughout the whole of Q2, raising Bitcoin’s dominance … The authors of the report attribute these dynamics to the clarification of crypto-related regulation and institutional investors’ revitalized interest in digital assets.”
An argument made by some experts that Bryanov showcases is the idea that Bitcoin is the only crypto asset with enough liquidity to accommodate big institutional buy-in, and that this reality accounts for its some 60% of market share at the end of this quarter.
Bryanov quotes Ryan Alfred, President of Digital Assets Data, talking about Bitcoin this way:
“This asset is pulling the market higher on the strength of its brand and growing worldwide acceptance as an alternative to gold and fiat currencies. Part of this relative outperformance was caused by the lack of regulatory clarity for altcoins in the US, with several of the largest exchanges delisting assets or turning off trading in the US.”
Facebook’s Libra project, experts contend, is another major driver of blockchain popularity and the growth of the cryptocurrency sector overall. Although Facebook Libra is not a truly decentralized crypto currency – (it’s set to be pegged to fiat currencies and administrated by node holders who buy in) – it still promises to lead many consumers closer to the blockchain and open up many more opportunities for casual crypto trading.
When people were calling 2019 the year of the blockchain months ago, this might be what they were talking about.
