Bitcoin is at $3.1k +- (As of writing this article). That's not exactly what we were expecting since the beginning of 2018. There were so many predictions that BTC will hit $25k - $50k by end 2018. None of those happened so far. Things went down and Charley Lee knew it calling it "a multi-year Bear market" back in December 12 2017. Link

The market experienced a severe price correction to the extent that some are beginning to doubt the future blockchain promises. Still, in spite of all the losses and FUD, the fundamentals continue to grow, and 2019 is promising to be an exciting year in terms of project development as well as cryptocurrencies edging toward the mainstream.

Institutional bodies are getting more interested in cryptocurrencies.

One example of this is the U.S. state of Ohio accepting tax payments in Bitcoin. Merchants accepting cryptocurrencies as payments have also grown in number, with several people testifying on social media how they paid for goods and services with cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, and BNB. Notable merchants that accept Bitcoin include Overstock, eGifter, Expedia, Shopify, and others.

Another metric that expresses the growth of the industry is the amount of talent that has been attracted to blockchain. Research carried out by Glassdoor reveals a 300% rise in blockchain-related job openings in 2018 (as opposed to 2017).

Despite the heavy price downtrend of 2018, many would still agree with investor Anthony Pompliano that Bitcoin is the best-performing asset of the decade. This matters for long-term crypto investors as they look beyond the immediate state of the industry to the impact it will have on the future world economy.

As 2018 draws to a close, it’s time to look forward to what 2019 has in store, in terms of growth and development for the industry.

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The Stuttgart stock exchange (Boerse Stuttgart) will launch a crypto trading venue in the first half of 2019 through a partnership with solarisBank. Link The Swiss wing on Russia’s Gazprombank will start offering crypto assets services by mid-2019. Link Ethereum Constantinople HF Scheduled for 16th of January, 2019! Link Oil to will be sold in petros. Venezuela’s President Maduro said that the move is aimed at minimizing the dollar’s dominance in the industry and diversifying the global market. Link SEC will announce the final decision of VanEck-SolidX Bitcoin ETF on February 27, 2019. Link Bitcoin futures on Nasdaq confirmed by company executive; to be launched in first half of 2019. Link Bakkt Launch to January 24, 2019.

In a new notice, ICE Futures U.S., Inc. says it will list the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract on January 24 of next year. Link United Arab Emirates to Approve ICOs as ‘Securities’ in 2019 to Boost Corporate Funding. Link United Arab Emirates Remittance Firm Launching Ripple-Based Payments in Q1 2019. Link Middle East’s First Central Bank-Backed Crypto Exchange to Launch in 2019. Link Australia’s First Dollar-Backed Crypto Stablecoin to be Launched in 2019. Link Lightning Network becomes a fully functional product in 2019, although significant development is expected to be completed on it. Cardano is expected to release the features of the Shelley phase in 2019, starting with delegation and stake pool testnets. Shelley is the phase in the development of Cardano aimed to make the project fully decentralized and autonomous. IOTA and Volkswagen have scheduled the launch of a digital car pass for Q1 2019. Link Binance has also started testing a fiat-to-crypto exchange in Singapore. The full launch will be expected in 2019, with many more exchanges and trading tools also in line to get introduced into the crypto market. The operator of Germany’s only regulated cryptocurrency exchange has confirmed it will de facto become a bank after securing a 100 percent takeover of Tremmel Wertpapierhandelsbank. Investment funds transaction network Calastone, a founding member of the Linux Foundation-led Hyperledger Project, is shifting its entire system to the blockchain. Huaren Capital, Chinese Crypto Miner to Launch Remittance-Friendly Digital Peso in Philippines in H1 2019. Link

Conclusion

The crypto industry has shown great resilience in 2018 despite the bear market.

Throughout 2018, the industry was haunted by regulatory rumors that contributed to FUD regarding the future of crypto. Now that there is a glimpse of what regulations will look like for the industry, the focus will be back on efficiency (through development) and adoption (through marketing efforts) in the new year.

The impact these developments will have on the valuation of cryptocurrencies is yet uncertain. While there are arguments for a bull run, the short sellers may still impact the market for a more prolonged period of time.

In spite of all that has happened, there are a lot of things to look forward to in 2019 — the above are only a selection of some of the developments we can look forward to in the new year.

2019 will definitely not be like 2018, nor will it be like 2017. What the year will turn out to be lies in the hands of the developers, business managers, marketers, and various stakeholders in the industry’s ecosystem.

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Souces: Coindesk, Cointelegraph, Bloomberg, Bitcoinist, CCN,