For the time being, the Bitcoin price losses had behaved similarly to those of tech stocks - but then developments around the stable coin Terra USD and the associated Luna Coin dragged the crypto market down in the middle of this month, which is why we can now speak of a crash with a clear conscience.
However, the market has already experienced many ups and downs, and it was not uncommon for a "crypto winter" to be followed by an even bigger high.
On top of that, several other factors play a role in this crash, such as the multiple industries that already use cryptocurrencies on a daily basis. A clear example is the iGaming industry, with Slotsia - your guide to quality casinos - demonstrating the immense amount of platforms that accept cryptocurrencies for both deposits and withdrawals.
Overall, data shows that Bitcoin has already been declared dead 449 times, only to be resurrected afterward. And even this crash won't spell the final end for cryptocurrencies, as Bitcoin-critical author David Gerard explains in an interview with tech medium Wired.
Greed is a Dog
The reason, according to Gerard, is a simple one: there will always be greedy and gullible people looking to make a quick buck - and as long as there is, it will always happen after a price drop that investors will be lured in and cause the price to rise again through purchases. He also does not shy away from the comparison with tulip bulbs.
In the process, he says, there are always giddy projects that use supposedly unfair methods to get the money of gullible hangers-on - and the Terra project has now also received lawsuits.
"I'm not saying you can't make a fortune in crypto," Gerard says: "But you're betting on being a smarter shark than the sharks who built Shark Tank."
Unregulated Market
A particular factor in this environment is the fact that cryptocurrencies are an unregulated market, but many investors mistakenly treat them like a regulated market.
This is where lawmakers are gradually starting to take countermeasures. ECB President Christine Lagarde, for example, recently made derogatory comments about Bitcoin while at the same time beating the advertising drum for the digital euro.
A complete Bitcoin ban, originally planned for the EU, was ultimately rejected - at least for the time being. However, the remainder of the draft law, which provides for the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the EU under the name "Markets in Crypto Assets" (MICA), was accepted.
According to Gerard, the upcoming regulation - even in other economic regions like the US - is a good thing.
This is because it should prevent crashes in the crypto market from dragging down an entire economy. He also believes that financial institutions should be prevented from integrating cryptocurrencies into retirement products.
Benefits in the Real World?
Aside from the speculative aspect, the question is whether Bitcoin will have any use in real life - as a means of investment or payment, for example. After all, the project's initiators started out with the ambitious plan of creating a decentralized monetary system without central banks.
Gerard is skeptical here and emphasizes that any plans for the future are formulated in the subjunctive - and could, therefore, turn out to be castles in the air.
In this context, a video in which a crypto user buys a beer in El Salvador also made the rounds at the end of 2021. The process is rather slow - to say the least. An entirely different question is whether the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin can be applied in real life.
It can be used, for example, to conclude contracts in a forgery-proof manner and to document ownership of works of art and real estate. Multiple countries are also working on numerous projects that show a lot of potential.
Here, however, Gerard notes that all of these scenarios do not necessarily rely on blockchain, but could also work without it.
So, What Now?
Futures are difficult to conclude. Something unexpected always happens, especially in the mysterious environment of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, 2022 is not the calmest year either.
What we do know is that this crash can by no means be called the death of Bitcoin and the other coins.
In fact, many hopeful investors are seeing this crash as their future harvest for when cryptocurrencies recover. So, it will only be a matter of time until we are once again immersed in news about the promising future of coins.
