Cryptocurrency projections have been bleak lately, and it is difficult not to blame investors for their pessimistic outlook as Bitcoin drops to its lowest price since 2017.

Since reaching astronomical highs, major cryptocurrencies have continued to plummet – wiping out billions of dollars in market value over the space of a year.

As a result, certain startups have dropped out of the cryptocurrency race to pursue other projects and individual investor interest has declined.

The industry still has its die-hard fans however, who maintain the technology for revolutionary currency systems.

These enthusiasts see the steady price decline as an overdue correction and the exodus of those who were only involved in the market for the potential profits, and not for the technology.

MyBroadband spoke to cryptocurrency expert Simon Dingle on the latest developments, who refuted claims that cryptocurrency is dying.

Investor interest

Dingle said that individual mainstream investors may be less interested in cryptocurrency now, but institutional investors are showing increased interest.

“Seasoned investors know that you should buy when prices are low, and sell when they are high, while public hype follows the opposite pattern,” Dingle said.

“So in 2017, when prices were high, inexperienced investors were buying. Now that prices are low, the serious investors are getting involved.”

He said that major institutions were now offering trade execution and custody for cryptocurrencies, showing interest from major players.

“Experienced investors also think long-term and know that the low prices of cryptocurrency in 2019 are still exponentially higher than the lows of three to five years ago,” Dingle said.

“Anyone objectively looking at the space, whether from an adoption or price perspective, should be excited about the future.”

The real-world uses, adoption, and development of the technology are far more interesting than looking at price volatility, he added.

Dingle called the term “blockchain” an over-hyped piece of jargon, which detracts from the true effect of decentralisation on currency systems.

“The blockchain is just an enabling technology – and one that makes no sense in any application where it is not decentralised as part of an open source technology stack,” Dingle said.

Snake oil versus statistics

“Big enterprise technology and consulting firms selling ‘blockchain’ to their clients are just peddling snake oil,” Dingle asserted.

“There are far more exciting things happening in the world of currency, like new standards being introduced to the Bitcoin software and scaling solutions like Lightning that are enabling Bitcoin for mass adoption.”

According to Dingle, the real vision should be about financial inclusion and the democratisation of the financial system.

“We’re moving into a world where banks can no longer charge exorbitant fees for their services, and where large financial institutions are no longer able to just pay fines to escape their criminal activities – such as the money laundering fines that are routinely paid by US banks.”

Dingle said there were many signs that cryptocurrency is far from over, alluding to the continued growth of the Bitcoin network and the growing hash rate provided to the blockchain.

“The amount of Bitcoin nodes running the Lightning protocol has also increased almost tenfold over the last year, which is massively exciting as Bitcoin enters its next phase of adoption as a medium of exchange,” Dingle said.

“Institutional investors are jumping onboard, and the technology is progressing at a rapid pace.”

Dingle said it is easy to be cynical about cryptocurrencies or discount its enthusiasts, but the industry is hard at work and making major advancements.

“There are good people doing great work in this area, and it’s in everyone’s best interests to support them – with the exception of corrupt politicians and extortive bankers.”

“If, however, you’re a banker or politician who wants to see positive change in the way you serve the world, we’d love to talk.”