On the 1st of January 2019, Wall Street Journal published an article about the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. The article stated that this emerging technologies aren’t as useful as they appear superficially. It talked about the 2017 bull run that was followed by the 2018 bear run. According to the article, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies are only used by blockchain developers. Part of the content was as follows:
“BTC and many other digital currencies that have surfaced over the years are used only by developers in the blockchain industry.”
The article stated that the Ethereum blockchain offers developers a less intuitive platform than other blockchains. The current platform doesn’t have any developer kit for Android and iOS devices. This is challenging according to developers.
Blockchain Technology Review By WSJ
Blockchain Technology Review By WSJ
Granted, the review of blockchain technology by Wall Street Journal is generally negative, but it still included some positive news. For one, the article noted that there was an increased interest from institutional investors in 2018. Still, it didn’t state many other positive things that have been happening in the industry like the growing number of virtual currencies and new addresses.
In the first quarter of 2019, the Bakkt platform for institutional investors will be launched marking the beginning of a new era for cryptocurrencies. While there hasn’t been any date set for the launch, sources claim that it may occur as early as next month. There are still some rumors about the launch being shifted into the second quarter of the year but nothing is certain yet. The only thing that is sure is that the launch will have a positive impact on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology as a whole.
In 2018, there were many ICO tokens launched into the market. The review from Wall Street Journal shows that hundreds of the initial coin offering projects that were launched last year were fraudulent. These companies capitalized on the blockchain hype to rob investors of their funds. This made the United States regulators more active in the industry as they tried to gain control of the market.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis
Honestly speaking, 2018 was tough for cryptocurrencies. The bearish wave that took a grip of the market led to a lot of problems in the industry. It’s true that BTC has always been volatile but the drop from its all-time-high of almost $20,000 to as low as $3183 wasn’t predicted by anyone in the beginning of the year. This drove out speculators who were looking for short-term rewards and even some true believers joined the sell-off.
For weeks now, BTC has been hovering around the $3000 and $4000 levels. Some experts said BTC will bottom out at $3000 while others said it may fall as low as $1000. Even the end of year rally wasn’t enough to kick the bears out of the market. After trading in green just before Christmas, BTC went back to trading in red.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Today – BTC / USD
| Name | Price | 24H % |
|---|---|---|
 | $0.00 | -0.15% |
Yesterday, many of the top cryptocurrencies were red against the USD with Bitcoin taking the lead. This morning, the bulls seem to have gained some momentum as BTC is now trading in green. At the time of writing, it was trading at $3,848.41. This indicates that it is up by 2.18% against the USD with a trading volume of $4,634,002,688 and a market capitalization of $67,187,399,513.
