While I distrust Lagarde by default, is always good to listen. And the music being played is not a optimistic one. The IMF is clearly reducing global growth, partly due to the commercial war USA-China, and other "risks that have materialised". Also, a warning against the ridiculous amount of debt world wide has been issued.
I see that two effects may be possible for crypto:
- In countries where the effects of this foreseeable crisis are acute, people may recur to crypto to avoid the usual hiper-inflation, which is particularly more likely when countries have national debt issues.
- As for the crypto market in general, it could contract as all the economy would suffer, even a market as wild and new as crypto.
Some references for analysis.
On Monday, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook Update that confirmed the April forecast of 3.9 percent global growth for 2019. But this may be the high-water mark. Already growth is beginning to slow in the Euro Area, Japan, and the United Kingdom. US growth, which has been boosted by the recent fiscal stimulus, is projected to moderate in the medium term. In the emerging markets, growth is now more uneven than it was in April, due in part to rising oil prices and currency pressures.
https://blogs.imf.org/2018/07/18/shifting-tides-policy-challenges-and-opportunities-for-the-g-20/
