Check out these three predictions on the future of the entire cryptocurrency industry that, if they become real, could spark the golden age of cryptos.
The cryptocurrency community now faces an entirely new year full of uncertainties.
However, that did not stop many talking heads and online personalities in the industry from making predictions on how cryptos would fare in the next 12 months. Some of the forecasts sounded logical, while others looked absurd.
Here are three of the biggest yet realistic crypto predictions this 2019:
1| Bitcoin ETF Will Arrive This Year
The talk of the crypto town last 2018 revolved around a number of Bitcoin ETF proposals submitted to the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Many in the community expect the approval of just one to kick-start yet another crypto bull run. SEC’s thumbs up, they believe, would indicate that Bitcoin could be used as an investment asset, which would open the doors for then-wary institutional investors to confidently enter the crypto market. This then would more likely cause prices to go up.
However, all of the Bitcoin ETF proposals are virtually dead in the water—except for the one from VanEck and SolidX, the decision regarding which SEC will reveal later this February. And many crypto analysts believe that this application has the best shot of being approved.
Should SEC say yes, then the crypto market is in for a wild ride.
| Related: Xapo’s Rogers: More Than 90% of Cryptos ‘Will Disappear Eventually’
2| More Institutional Money Will Flow In
Whether a Bitcoin ETF gets the nod or not, a couple of crypto luminaries expect funding from institutional investors to significantly increase this year thanks to projects that allow these potential shareowners to take part in the young and growing industry.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated six months ago that banks and other financial institutions could now tap into the crypto market using his company’s product. Now live, xRapid allows payment providers to conduct fast and secure intercontinental money transfers using Ripple’s digital token, XRP.
Garlinghouse, back in June 2018, said:
“I have every confidence that major banks will use xRapid as a liquidity tool. You know, by the end of next year, I would certainly hope that we would see you know in the order of… dozens.”
In addition to xRapid is Bakkt, which will be introduced later this year. Backed by the firm behind the New York Stock Exchange, Bakkt will offer physical Bitcoin futures contracts once they receive approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
3| STOs Will Take Over the Market
The past 2018 saw initial coin offerings (ICOs) achieve great success, setting record-breaking amounts of funds raised. However, as the year went by, regulators all across the globe have started cracking down on unregulated ICOs, which spooked many potential investors from participating in token sales.
To comply with these regulators, security token offerings (STOs) are born. Compared with ICO’s, STO’s security token follows the rules set by most security regulators in the world. With this compliance, investors can sleep in peace knowing that the digital token they funded does not violate securities laws.
With the decreasing number of ICOs and the increasing volume of STOs by the end of last year, many digital token enthusiasts are convinced that 2019 is the year STOs will overtake ICOs as the go-to fundraising method in the crypto industry.
