The likelihood of Bitcoin trading at $10,000 instead of $30,000 in the coming months is closer, as revealed by the latest MLIV Pulse survey of a large group of U.S. investors published by Bloomberg.
Nearly two-thirds of the 950 investors who participated in the polling firm’s survey believe the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization will continue to fall
However, the rest of the investors who responded to the survey believe quite the opposite. They claim that the price of the digital currency will go back up to close to $30,000.
On Tuesday at 07:27 pm (UTC +2) Bitcoin recorded a 2.61% drop in the last 24 hours and was trading at US $ 19,633.
One in four investors consider these assets as “junk”
Investors’ forecasts account for the gloomy outlook the markets are observing on cryptocurrency. The crypto winter that has brought with it a series of DeFi company bankruptcies and failed coin projects, has been coupled with the drastic change in central bank policies.
The easy money that financial markets enjoyed during more than two years of pandemic became more expensive and high-risk assets such as cryptocurrencies have been its first victims
The digital asset crisis has wiped about $2 trillion from the crypto market this year, according to CoinGecko data. Retail investors’ concerns about cryptocurrencies became apparent, with about 25% of them saying these assets were junk.
While institutional or professional investors held a slightly more favorable opinion towards these types of investments. The responses provided indicate that opinion on digital assets is polarized.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they were still confident that digital currencies represent the future of the new global financial system. Another 20% said they are worthless assets.
Skepticism about the crypto market
However, the majority of investors surveyed said they were somewhat skeptical about the performance of the cryptocurrency market. Since November, when it reached an all-time high of US $69,000, the price of BTC has plunged by more than two-thirds. In November 2020 its price was US $ 10,000.
For Jared Madfes, a partner at venture capital firm, Tribe Capital, “it’s very easy to be fearful right now, not just in crypto, but in general in the world.” He noted that pessimistic expectations about a further cryptocurrency crash only reflect “people’s inherent fear in the market.”
As is already being observed, the collapse of the cryptocurrency market is leading regulators around the world to exert more pressure to pass stricter regulatory rules on the industry in the near term.
The majority of respondents see it as a good thing that governments are overseeing the market more and better. According to them, this could improve confidence in cryptocurrencies and generate greater acceptance of these assets among institutional and retail investors.
Retail investors affected by the collapse of TerraUSD and lenders and brokers such as Celsius Network and Voyager Digital Ltd. are likely to welcome the adoption of clear rules on this market with a smile.
Bitcoin and Ether will survive
On the other hand, central banks – among them the European Central Bank – plan to issue by the end of the year their own digital currencies (CBDC) to be used as an alternative payment instrument to traditional fiat money.
Despite the strong price shakeout on the crypto industry investors surveyed do not expect Bitcoin or Ether, the largest cryptos on the market, to be totally crushed by the crisis and by the potential threat of central bank digital currencies.
Rather, they foresee either of these two tokens re-emerging more strongly over the next five years. On the other hand, a considerable number of investors surveyed are of the opinion that CBDCs will assume a key role in global finance going forward.
“Bitcoin is still driving much of the cryptoverse, while Ethereum is losing its lead,” noted Ed Moya, senior market analyst at cryptocurrency broker Oanda Corp.
NFTs at the tail end of preferences
On non fungible tokens (NFTs) the opinion of respondents was more or less consensus. These assets depicted in monkey figures and other images that captured the attention of some investors and created a bubble around their inflated prices, are not very well regarded.
Most respondents see NFTs only as “art projects” or “status symbols.” Just 9% see them as a serious investment opportunity. So those looking for a potential speculative option in them might be better off exploring other areas.
Moreover, it would be difficult, after learning how the price bubble of these assets operated, for them to be artificially inflated again. That is, the owner would launch an NFT and buy it himself through another company he owned for a very high price in order to make people believe that it was trading very well.
Almost all respondents agree that the next big boom in the market will not be related to cryptocurrencies. They believe that both NFTs and web3 and oncoming blockchain developments will not catch investors’ attention again.
“The next financial bubble is always something different than the last bubble, so most are absolutely right on this one,” Miller Tabak + Co chief market strategist Matt Maley finished off by saying.