It is hardly news that Bitcoin has disappointed us tremendously
It is hardly news that Bitcoin has disappointed us tremendously this year. With its price repeatedly dipping to record lows, it has garnered quite a poor reputation in recent times.
A new report by FinExpertiza, which is a Russian network of firms involved in audits and consultancies work, seems to give voice to the frustration that has plagued industry insiders all through 2018.
The FinExpertiza report, which was provided in response to a request by Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, claims that Bitcoin was the most underperforming asset of the year.
It yielded the poorest returns for investors as compared to a number of other instruments, totalling 14 in number. Metal palladium topped the list put together by FinExpertiza and Bitcoin found itself at the very end, apparently having caused losses of around 71.5% to investors who placed their trust in the cryptocurrency.
Traditional assets including precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum performed far better causing minimal losses to investors. Gold, for example, retained its time-tested glory by causing just 5.91% of the losses.
Given that Bitcoin is frequently termed as “digital gold”, it is no wonder that it was compared so heavily to precious metals. However, does the poor comparison mean all hope is lost? Not quite, it seems. This is because all these other precious metals seem to be in a very different position in their market cycle, than Bitcoin, which seems to be at the bottom. In fact, ConsenSys founder Joseph Lubin recently commented that we’ve hit cryptobottom, suggesting good times are on their way.
A former executive of JP Morgan also seems to be feeling less fatalistic about Bitcoin’s future. Alex Gurevich, who is also a professor of Mathematics, commented that:
“Every day it doesn’t disappear, it gets one step closer to a permanent status of digital gold.”
Talking of Bitcoin’s current market cycle, he also published an intriguing Tweet, suggesting to us that there might be light at the end of the tunnel after all.
I am officially calling the regime change to the late cycle pattern.
This is what I wrote in my book in 2014: pic.twitter.com/pcAYHJGcPG
— Alex Gurevich (@agurevich23) January 31, 2018
NYSE chairman Jeff Sprecher seems to agree. He said:
“Often times in finance, it’s not about being the best — it turns out to be about being the broadest and the most commonly accepted and for whatever reason bitcoin has become that,” said Sprecher.
Indeed, Bitcoin was declared dead more than a hundred times even in 2017, when it eventually went on to reach a record high of almost $20000. Similarly, the year 2013 saw Bitcoin fall by 87% and take a long and excruciating wait of four years to recover. It seems that Bitcoin’s story might just see a twist in the tail after all.
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