The crypto market in 2017 recorded very high growth in the total market capitalization, which led to increased public attention. With Bitcoin peaking at almost $20,000 and other altcoins following suit, many new participants entered the market looking to make their cut of the pie. As the year 2018 commences, here are some predictions for crypto that would happen in the next five years:
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1. Governments Will Start To Regulate Crypto
Due to the increasing popularity of crypto and the amount of money that is being traded-in them, various governments will start to introduce regulations to protect their citizens. This could go either way for the cryptocurrency market, as some governments may see it as an opportunity to develop their control over the market while others may see it as a threat and take measures against it.
One major example crypto predictions 2022 where this could happen is in countries like India, Singapore, and China who are looking at more protectionist policies. This would be counter to what will happen in Japan or South Korea who will accept crypto as an alternative payment system.
2. A Positive View of Cryptocurrency Exchanges Will Increase
Although cryptocurrency exchanges are not as regulated as other financial service providers, their importance cannot be overemphasized due to the fact that they are where fiat-to-crypto transactions take place. They are also starting to be seen as partners rather than just as ancillary service providers.
This could be seen with Coin base’s’ recent appointment of Adam White as their first COO. In this role, he will be looking to expand the company’s products and services while also developing new partnerships with institutional investors.
3. Bitcoin Will Lose Its Dominant Market Position
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to be created and has been the dominant player in the market since its inception. However, there are a number of reasons why this may not always be the case.
For one, Bitcoin is facing scalability issues which could limit its ability to process transactions as more people start to use it. In addition, the high transaction fees and long confirmation times are also limiting factors. The Bitcoin community is well aware of these issues, and work is underway to solve them through off-chain scaling solutions like the Lightning Network or side chains which would allow for more transactions without clogging up the Bitcoin blockchain.
These are promising ideas, but they are still in their early stages of development, and it will take time to see if they can be implemented and actually work.
4. Ethereum Will Overtake Bitcoin As The Number One Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin’s scalability issues and its lack of versatility compared to another crypto will lead to Ethereum overtaking it as the number one cryptocurrency. Ethereum has already shown its capabilities through its ability to launch successful ICOs as well as being able to process more transactions than Bitcoin at a fraction of the transaction time.
Some are even seeing Ethereum as potentially overtaking fiat currencies in the future, especially with their newly formed Enterprise Alliance which includes companies like Accenture and JP Morgan, who are looking to use it for smart contract execution. This could go either way, though, since there is still much doubt about whether this can be done successfully.
5. The Cryptocurrency Market Will Be Worth Over $1 Trillion
The cryptocurrency market is still in its early stages, and there is a lot of potentials for it to grow. With the number of people getting involved and the increasing acceptance of crypto, I believe that the market will be worth over $1 trillion by 2022.
This is still a prediction, but it is not an unreasonable one. If the cryptocurrency market can continue to grow at the current rate, then there is no reason why it cannot reach this milestone.
These are just some of the things that could happen in the cryptocurrency market by 2022. It is still a very volatile market, and anything could happen, so take these predictions with a grain of salt. However, they provide an interesting glimpse into the future of this exciting industry.
