2018 bear market saw Bitcoin’s price fall around 85% from $20,000 to a low of $3,100. This trend was mirrored by all alt coins with some dropping almost 100% from all-time-highs. Added to this the constant postponement of ETFs and Bakkt, this has led to many retail investors leaving the crypto space.

One of Bitcoin’s skeptics was Niall Ferguson, the author of the currency history book, The Ascent of Money. He was speaking at The Australian Financial Review Business Summit, which was held at the beginning of March 2019. He has previously criticised Bitcoin and blockchain technology as being a “complete delusion.”

Ferguson Recants

However, at the conference he stated that he had changed his mind. Ferguson said, “I was very wrong…wrong to think there was no use for a form of currency based on blockchain technology.”

In 2014 his teenage son told him to invest in Bitcoin and he ignored him. He now considers this moment to be “the worst investment decision of my life.” In 2017 he wrote a blog post recalling his son encouraging him to invest in Bitcoin. He wrote:

“On October 7, 2014 the dollar price of one bitcoin was $334. As I write, it is $15,150 (£11,323). Yes, you read that correctly. If I had listened to my son, I would have increased the dollar value of my investment by a factor of 45 — or, if you prefer, I’d have made a return on the investment of 4,436%.”

Even given the negative effect the bear market has had on price Ferguson still believes that Bitcoin and blockchain based currencies have a future. The moral of the story for Ferguson was “when it comes to technology, pay heed to teenagers.”

Bear to Bull Market

There seems to be a palpable change in the crypto-verse which is indicating a change from bear to bull. In addition to economists changing their perceptions about Bitcoin, other famous tech giants such as Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak have recently stated their interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, the launch of Fidelity’s crypto trading and custody platform shows that there is an appetite from institutions to invest in cryptocurrencies. Long-time critics of Bitcoin, such as JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon, are developing cryptocurrencies of their own. Finally, large tech companies such as Samsung and Facebook are also using blockchain technology and giving the average consumer the opportunity to trade and utilise cryptocurrencies.

Clearly, there is a lot to look forward to in 2019. We are still waiting on the launch of Bakkt and for SEC approval of a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF. What will it take to ignite the next bull run?



