Bitcoin BOOM over? Interest in cryptocurrency giant BTC is DYING OFF – commentary

For all its promise of heralding the dawn of bitcoin maturity, 2019 could yet end up being the year of the altcoin. Altcoins – the term used for the hundreds and hundreds of smaller alternatives to the decade-old grandfather of them all – are beginning to enjoy much more trading volume. At the same time, bitcoin’s usual frenzied following is dropping away. It would appear the madness of the king is forcing the courtiers to seek favour with the lesser royals. 

It is a curious situation, and not one we have seen before in the years since Satoshi Nakamoto first created cryptocurrency by presenting bitcoin to the world in 2009.

Thousands of altcoins have come and gone in that time, and many have been laid to waste or left to dwindle in the lower echelons with values barely registering as a hundredth of a pence, let alone the current going rate of £2,770 ($3,600) for a bitcoin.

And even that is only there or thereabouts as it is eminently possible that, by the time you have found the full stop at the end of this sentence, the price may have sprung north or skulked southwards.

It all sounds very exciting to anyone with a mildly enthusiastic interest in cryptocurrency, keen to learn and understand more about something which inevitably has a huge part to play in the future of finance.

But the fact is that for those despairing investors who have ploughed cash into bitcoin – either as a long-term investment or a short-term dabble – the state of the market over the last 12 months just has not got their juices going quite like it did in the days when the highs were higher and the lows were sizzling with the anticipation of an exhilarating bounce.

It kept you on your toes. There was good profit to be made, nails to bite, and – if you held your nerve and dared to chance it on a good instinct – champagne corks to pop.

Right now, that buzz is missing. It is like climbing into a jacuzzi with no jets – it might as well just be a bath. Bitcoin has lost its fizz.

The bottom of the range over the last three weeks has been dipping lower every time there has been severe downward movement, and the reactionary volume has been weaker with every fall. 

This is an alarming pattern which suggests a high supply isn’t being matched by demand.

In short, it means people are turning their backs on bitcoin.

Meanwhile, many of the leading altcoins – Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Cardano et al – are seeing demand and volume rising. This space is shifting away from bitcoin.

The question that springs to mind here is whether or not that shift is temporary due to the frustration and boredom of a stubborn bear market, or if this is something more permanent and the altcoins are laying down the foundations of a revolution.

The answer lies somewhere in the depths of 2019.

Coin Rivet is a website bringing news, information, analysis, opinion and insight from the fast-moving blockchain world.

source: express.co.uk