After crypto’s annus horribilis, can 2019 be any different?

There is no doubting that 2018 has been an annus horribilis for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Over the course of the year markets shed 84% as $700 billion left the space. But what goes up so dramatically fast must, inevitably, come down again and this has been a cycle seen over and over in markets around the world.

Now, some analysts say that cycle could be about to bounce back from the bottom and begin an upward march once again. Using a new type of analysis Bloomberg has reported that ‘signals’ are indicating the longest ‘buy streak’ for six months.

The conclusion has come from analysis of the GTI Vera Convergence Divergence indicator, which has previously predicted Bitcoin rallies. Bloomberg added that if buying pressure persists, as it has done for the past two weeks, the indicator predicts further gains for Bitcoin. If this happens the entire market will follow and all crypto-currencies will get a long-awaited boost.

Senior market analyst at eToro in Tel Aviv, Mati Greenspan, added: “Usually the best thing to do is to buy low and sell high. So if we are going by technical analysis we can very easily see on the chart that we are much closer to the bottom than we are to the top.”

He also stated that the industry is growing at a rapid pace now with new projects emerging and crypto startups hiring. However, as previously reported by Asia Times, this may not apply to the crypto mining industry, which is doing the opposite at the moment.

Bloomberg has its own Galaxy Crypto Index which tracks some of the largest crypto-currencies by market capitalization. This is also indicating a strong buy signal which could be a sign that things have reached the bottom for digital currencies.

Weiss Ratings also predicts big things for 2019 in their latest forecasts report. According to the independent stock and financial analysts, Bitcoin will become akin to ‘digital gold’ and cement its place as a store of value. In line with bullish signals from Bloomberg, Weiss also predicts a new all-time high for Bitcoin in 2019, which means it will need to break above $20,000, its previous peak.

Citing strong fundamentals in 2018, Weiss said that weaker hands had departed the markets while the strong believers in the technology and its philosophies have held on and accumulated more crypto assets. Markets run in cycles, so the bulls will follow the bears and vice versa. And the reality is, things can’t get much worse this year than they were last year. Or can then?

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