Cryptocurrency exploded like a supernova as prices soared to nearly $20,000 in December 2017. But like a dying star, the crypto-market may now be facing an implosion.
According to a new report from technology research group, Juniper Research, the cryptocurrency “industry is on the brink of an implosion.”
The research highlights some key market metrics, all of which display cryptocurrencies as being on a downward spiral.
“During Q1 2018, cryptocurrency transactions totaled just over $1.4 trillion, compared with less than $1.7 trillion for 2017 as a whole,” the report notes. “However, by Q2 2018, transaction values had plummeted by 75 percent, to under $355 billion.”
Juniper is expecting a further 47-percent drop in transaction values for Q3 2018 compared to the previous quarter.
The researchers claim economic uncertainty typically encourages growth, yet even “strained China-US trade relations and Brexit-related troubles” failed to rouse any interest in the cryptocurrency industry, Bloomberg reports.
Daily Bitcoin transaction volumes have fallen from nearly 360,000 per day in late 2017 to around 230,000 in September 2018. Daily transaction values are down from $3.7 billion to under $670 million over the same period.
Juniper blames various market pressures for this: among other things, the report chalks up the market struggles to a ban on initial coin offering (ICO) advertising, tighter regulations from credit card companies, and price manipulation from exchanges.
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