Bitcoin is more likely to shed half its value and plummet to $10,000 than it is to regain some strength and rise to $30,000, a survey of investors found.
Bitcoin is currently trading at just above $20,000, where it has been for about a month. A new survey of investors by Bloomberg found that, in the near-term, 60% said the flagship cryptocurrency would hit $10,000 before it hits $30,000, which the other 40% expect.
The 950 respondents were also asked about their sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies, and retail investors said they were more skeptical than professional investors.
Nearly a quarter of retail investors said they see cryptocurrencies as “garbage,” and another 27% said they are open-minded but skeptical. Twenty-three percent of retail investors said cryptocurrencies are “the future,” but just 4% said they are “bitcoin maximalists.”
BITCOIN CRASH WIPES OUT EL SALVADOR’S CRYPTOCURRENCY RESERVES
Bitcoin has had a terrible year. The digital asset had a banner year in 2021, hitting an all-time high of $69,000 last November, but has since fallen steadily, crashing to $40,000 by May and then further declining to the $20,000 level it is at now — its lowest level since the end of 2020.
Bitcoin is leading other major cryptocurrencies in crashing as well. Ethereum has lost 70% of its value since the start of the year, Ripple has shed 60% of its value, and Cardano has collapsed by more than 67%. In total, about $2 trillion has evaporated from cryptocurrency markets since late last year, according to CoinGecko.
Jared Madfes, a partner at Tribe Capital, said the results of the survey reflect “people’s inherent fear in the market.”
“It’s very easy to be fearful right now, not only in crypto, but generally in the world,” he said.
As inflation reaches historic multidecade highs and the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, investors are fleeing the cryptocurrency market in favor of less risky assets.
The decline of the cryptocurrency market has moved somewhat in tandem with traditional stocks, which have also experienced a sharp sell-off in recent months as investors fear a recession brought on by the Fed’s tightening cycle.
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“There is pandemonium across all markets. Inflation is rising, interest rates are rising, and the actual effects at the consumer level are even much more dramatic than the Fed or government want to acknowledge,” cryptocurrency entrepreneur Travis Bott told the Washington Examiner in May as bitcoin was cratering.
The crash has been bad news for major investors in cryptocurrency, including the entire country of El Salvador, which became the first nation to make bitcoin legal tender. Neary every time bitcoin fell, the country’s president “bought the dip” and gobbled up more of the digital asset, although bitcoin has simply continued to fall rather than make up for those losses.
