As Bitcoin continues to languish below $5,000 and the general market in a far worse state, many experts in the space, while still optimistic about the long-term potential of Bitcoin, are estimating that adoption might take longer than initially predicted by enthusiasts.
This includes Bobby Lee, brother of Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, and Blockstream founder and CEO, Adam Back. Both believe that that the bear market might last for some time to come, but are still positive about the future of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The Real “Flippening”: BTC and Gold
Bobby Lee, who is on the board of the Bitcoin Foundation and the co-founder of BTCChina, pointed out that Bitcoin’s defining trait, the digital equivalence of gold, is far from its goal of matching the precious metal. The latter has a total of $80 trillion, which is a very distant figure for Bitcoin at this point.
In this bear market for #Bitcoin, it's worth reminding everyone that $BTC is still only one-hundredth of the value of #Gold: $80 billion vs $8 trillion.
Gold is worth 100 times more than Bitcoin today!
What will the ratio be in 10-20 years?
Will it flip, with Bitcoin worth more? pic.twitter.com/VIpzIDKfo0— Bobby Lee (@bobbyclee) November 20, 2018
He, like Anthony Pompliano, thinks that Bitcoin could still drop further to $3,000, though the past 24 hours has seen some green figures for the market. However, in the long term, he believes that Bitcoin will overtake gold and recommends HODLing.
Adam Back, founder and CEO of Blockstream, agrees with Lee’s long-term vision of Bitcoin overtaking gold.
Responding to Lee’s comments about Bitcoin’s great task to usurp gold, he expressed that this “flippening,” where 1 BTC is worth $250,000-500,000, could take a few decades:
That's the real flippening @bobbyclee! personally I consider $250k-$500k/BTC plausible in the years ahead, from the digital gold, censor-resistent competitor to physical gold, and internet native digital money. https://t.co/hSq2aHvg8z
— Adam Back (@adam3us) November 20, 2018
This is line with Tim Draper’s prediction of Bitcoin hitting $250,000 by 2022.
Still, this bear market, which Lee says could last 18 months — an eternity in the cryptocurrency market — and the fall to $3,000 is up to the traders. Ongoing trading, it is inferred, is mostly just day traders looking to recapture losses.
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Market Being Tested
Bitcoin’s drop below $5000 has shaken investors, and reactions vary from nonchalant confidence to rumors of a conspiracy that BTC price is being dropped down for better entry for institutional investors.
Moreover, Bitcoin Cash’s hard fork has stirred up much resentment in the crypto community, with many fuming over its role in bringing harm to the market’s image.
The outlook for Bitcoin is not rosy as it was at this time last year, though the overall sentiment is one of hodling and sticking with the asset as it passes through the bumpy phases on the path towards mass adoption.
In contrast to the explosive run in Q4 2017, this year has been a notably gloomy one for the market. Investors remain on tenterhooks, and are looking towards the entry of institutional funds as savior. With Bakkt now delayed to January 2019, it appears that any redemption in the form of large scale investments cannot come quick enough — if it will bring any, at all.
However, the crypto community can take heart in the fact that institutional investment is still solidly behind the emerging asset class which, investors ought to be reminded, is still the best performing asset class in recent years, no matter how bad the recent bear market is.
Both KPMG and Morgan Stanley have released reports with positive statements about blockchain and Bitcoin, though there is question on when Bitcoin will become a mainstream phenomenon.
To some degree, the bear market also sheds some light on the frailty of Bitcoin’s dominance.
Although premature at this point, some analysts are making the claim that Ripple will one day topple Bitcoin as the go-to digital asset for the masses. The much-awaited “flippening,” when altcoins mature and devour a large portion of Bitcoin’s market share, feels a lot closer now that the market has undergone something of a purge of “tourists,” as Anthony Pompliano might say.
Regardless of whether Bitcoin dips to $3,000 or rises from here, enthusiasts almost unanimously recommend one thing: HODLing and seeing this bear market through.
