[10-13-2018] Is 2018 a waste if if bitcoin prices don’t recover?

[pay_scotty]

Despite the excitement being generated in the space of cryptocurrency, to the tune of a $200 billion market capitalization or about five times that of popular electric car maker Tesla, 2018 has been a decidedly bad year in terms of increasing valuation.

Since reaching a pinnacle in December 2017, when Bitcoin prices soared on an exponential bull run to end the final quarter of the year, BTC and the majority of the altcoin marketplace has seen a steady erosion in price over the last ten months. During that time, there have been numerous stories, indicators and otherwise wishful comments made that the bear cycle will break before the end of 2018, with at least one more bullish leap for BTC before we enter the new year. However, last year’s all time high of near $20,000 is appearing to be more and more of a longshot as we enter the final quarter of the year, with the potential for another exponential increase for the coin also looking dismal. There have been bright spots for Bitcoin valuation, particularly in relation to news surrounding the development of a BTC Exchange Traded Fund.

Article in full is here: https://ethereumworldnews.com/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-2018-2019/

[cryptofonia]

just HODL

[Lucius]

As the author himself finally concludes at the end of the article, this year in not waste because price is "so low" in comparison with the end of last year - this was something which does not happen every year, and it was not realistic to expect something similar to repeat this year (although there is still time until the end of this year).

Pumps and dumps are good for making profit, but they also create a negative image when it comes to cryptocurrency - many people lost money and they say BTC is just one more internet scam - they unfortunately do not see the wider picture. I see this year in positive light just because BTC is holding strong above 6000$ and this is a good starting point to move up.

[gentlemand]

Nope. Because everyone had 2017 to play with and you don't get years like that very often. If you were there at the start of it then you would've had to have done something very special to be worse off.

All those who got sucked in during the year, well you should be aware that what goes up comes down and if you sit there for long enough the chances are you'll do more than fine in a while.

[pixie85]

Check out the charts. It always goes up and down in waves like the human nature. One day you are in a good mood, ready to work, another day you're down and don't want to do anything. Enthusiasm comes in waves. Once people get over their 2018 loss they'll think about new ways to make money, new opportunities, and they will invest again.

[Kemarit]

As the author himself finally concludes at the end of the article, this year in not waste because price is "so low" in comparison with the end of last year - this was something which does not happen every year, and it was not realistic to expect something similar to repeat this year (although there is still time until the end of this year).

I guess everyone is still hoping that we can duplicate last year's performance. But I'm sure that majority will agree that we won't see another big leap this year because we don't have any significant news that will push the price to even the 5 digit mark.

Pumps and dumps are good for making profit, but they also create a negative image when it comes to cryptocurrency - many people lost money and they say BTC is just one more internet scam - they unfortunately do not see the wider picture. I see this year in positive light just because BTC is holding strong above 6000$ and this is a good starting point to move up.

Its really big chance this year. We no longer see the FOMO we witnessed in 2017. All we have right now is bots, pump-and-dump traders and whales manipulating the prices on their favour. Yes the price is still strong at $6000 a pop so that's a good sign that we're not seeing another bottom price but at least its stable. So let's say we look at 2019 with optimism and let this 2018 be a good lesson for most of us, specially those who hasn't witnessed a bear season yet.

[1Referee]

2018 is a waste for the dumb, but a precious gift for the smart using it to accumulate as many coins as possible.

Crypto bear markets never last endlessly, and as always, previous all time highs become bottoms in the forthcoming years. The charts are your source of truth if you don't believe what I say.

People's problem is that they come here for speculative purposes only, and when you don't actually use Bitcoin, you're wasting your time waiting for the price to go up.

This bear market allows Bitcoin and LN to mature without having a bull run exposing how crippled the network can become. I really appreciate the low fees as daily user. I'm certain Ethereum developers are equally as happy that their network is operating smoothly in current days. Bitcoin isn't ready to go through another bull run like we had last year, people need to accept that.

[hatshepsut93]

The problem is, people got drunk on the exponential growth of the 2017, and a lot of people have joined this community during those times, so everyone expected that somewhere in 2018 cryptos will start to recover, return to the level of previous ATH and then go higher - this sentiment was fueled by "experts". Now as we come closer to the end of the year, frustration grows, but frustrated people should only blame themselves for having unrealistic expectations.

[timerland]

Bear markets are a natural part of the market cycle and you simply can't change that.

So it's really completely irrelevant whether or not this year was a waste or not, because of the fact that there is nothing that people can do within the market. Yes, prices are going down. But that's only natural when the entire market is pessimistic.

Also, I'd like to mention that institutional investors have actually to show more interest within bitcoin this year despite the bear market, and some regulations have matured with the growth of adoption as well. In no way is this year a "waste", it's a non-issue.

[BitHodler]

Bear markets are a natural part of the market cycle and you simply can't change that.

So it's really completely irrelevant whether or not this year was a waste or not, because of the fact that there is nothing that people can do within the market. Yes, prices are going down. But that's only natural when the entire market is pessimistic.

It's quite relevant for people who entered last year on the way up. These people are what I consider to be the first layer of mainstream adoption, so they lack the understanding needed to know how markets function.

That Bitcoin keeps going down this year is a shock to them with how they were used to seeing the price go continuously last year. This is their first ever bit of experience with a bear market.

We shouldn't be too hard on these people because most of us started as a noob as noob as well, and even we had some sort of a get rich quick way of thinking back then. Allow them the time they need to understand Bitcoin.

Most people who understand Bitcoin automatically become interested in economics as well.

[Kakmakr]

In all fairness, 2017 was not a natural occurrence and a unnatural spike in the price, will be followed with a correction period. If you look at the Bitcoin price over the almost 10 years, you would see that 2017 was a freak occurrence.

https://www.blockchain.com/charts/market-price?timespan=all

Also, if you ignore the fact that there were a 70% drop in the price, you will still find that the average price is still much higher than the previous years. <The price was very volatile, but in the long term, the price is still going up> 

[guybrushthreepwood]

Crypto is still worth far more than it was a couple of years ago so it could be worse. I don't think it means the year was a waste just because we're not at the all time high though and bitcoin obviously isn't a guaranteed investment. In fact, I've used this year to add to my holdings -- and not just in bitcoin but diversified into a few other coins a little.  

just HODL

Well I would agree with you right now and still think we'll gain much ground before the next halving, but how long do you keep holding? Would you keep holding to zero? My main concern with bitcoin is when to actually sell. I'll always keep some bitcoin in reserves even if it did go to zero, but I'd also like some cash money for real world purchases and investments in property and such.

[erikoy]

As the author himself finally concludes at the end of the article, this year in not waste because price is "so low" in comparison with the end of last year - this was something which does not happen every year, and it was not realistic to expect something similar to repeat this year (although there is still time until the end of this year).

Yes, but it has only a little time left before we can actually tell that there could be some hope of the bull run for 2018. Honestly, I am not expecting with it already and I am only seeing my crypto equivalency falling down to almost half of it before I join and invest in cryptocurrency. I think I have no luck in investing cryptocurrency.

Pumps and dumps are good for making profit, but they also create a negative image when it comes to cryptocurrency

This may be true but I have tried this and relatively I failed. The reason? Well, it is so hard to predict market price movement and I always end up having some loss during the trade. So I stop trading and then focus on holding cryptocurrency and waiting for some time especially the bull run. But then again, I am not expecting it right now that bull run for cyrptocurrency will going to happen.

[Alex_Zi]

2018 is not a bad time. It's just a market - new and young market with high volatilyty. If you are not a trader, but have a cryptocurrency - just hodl for min half of a year.

[cr1776]

Despite the excitement being generated in the space of cryptocurrency, to the tune of a $200 billion market capitalization or about five times that of popular electric car maker Tesla, 2018 has been a decidedly bad year in terms of increasing valuation.

Since reaching a pinnacle in December 2017, when Bitcoin prices soared on an exponential bull run to end the final quarter of the year, BTC and the majority of the altcoin marketplace has seen a steady erosion in price over the last ten months. During that time, there have been numerous stories, indicators and otherwise wishful comments made that the bear cycle will break before the end of 2018, with at least one more bullish leap for BTC before we enter the new year. However, last year’s all time high of near $20,000 is appearing to be more and more of a longshot as we enter the final quarter of the year, with the potential for another exponential increase for the coin also looking dismal. There have been bright spots for Bitcoin valuation, particularly in relation to news surrounding the development of a BTC Exchange Traded Fund.

Article in full is here: https://ethereumworldnews.com/bitcoin-price-cryptocurrency-2018-2019/

They just need to have patience. 

New use cases, lightning, other improvements, another halving in about 19 months (May 2020) etc all will have an impact during 2019 and 2020.    2011 and 2012 weren't wastes.  Consolidation takes time.

[dabsV12]

always remember: you lost nothing until you cash out 

[guybrushthreepwood]

always remember: you lost nothing until you cash out 

That isn't true. If bitcoin crashes to zero but you're still holding your coins would this still apply? If you invest money in something and it loses value then you've lost money, regardless of whether you sell the asset or not. Sure you can keep on holding it and hope you gain a return on investment evntually but doing so doesn't mean you've lost nothing until you do.

[bitcoinisbest]

just HODL

It is being a quite yest so far where the fall has being long till now and people had a good opportunity to buy several times at bottom price of 6k and sell it at 7.5k as it has reached in couple of weeks that price. SO people have being making short term profits easily. Yes on long term we do require some bull run to happen. The last quarter can turn to be the best quarter if we see some quick rise and closes above 10k on this year end.

[jossiel]

always remember: you lost nothing until you cash out 

If you can take all the drops then you are doing fine. Also if this isn't your first time to experience drops then you're still good. To the early holders this drop means nothing and its fine whether it recovers or not.

The most concerned people are those who bought at the highest price then the price suddenly drops.

[1Referee]

always remember: you lost nothing until you cash out 

That isn't true. If bitcoin crashes to zero but you're still holding your coins would this still apply? If you invest money in something and it loses value then you've lost money, regardless of whether you sell the asset or not. Sure you can keep on holding it and hope you gain a return on investment evntually but doing so doesn't mean you've lost nothing until you do.

There is a difference between losing on-paper value and losing value as in actually cashing out back to fiat. In terms of losing on-paper value, it all depends on how you deal with it mentally and psychologically. For me personally on-paper losses aren't actual losses at all, because I don't plan to touch any of my cold wallet holdings in the coming 5-10 years.

What if Bitcoin crashes to zero? I don't know, we lost I guess, but that applies to anything of value that you hold as an investment or store of value. Good thing is that with how Bitcoin's fundamentals are showing their strength as time goes by, the odds of Bitcoin becoming worthless slim down as well.

In the end, your opinion is valid as well, because as I stated above, it all comes down to how you deal with it mentally and psychologically, and it seems that regardless of the nature of your losses, a loss is a loss.