Ethereum News Update
The first quarter of 2018 was historically bad for ETH prices, according to a recent CoinDesk report, but there’s a silver lining embedded in the data: namely, that ETH recovered from these types of slumps in the past.
For instance, Ethereum prices lost 40% in the fourth quarter of 2016. While that’s not as bad as the 48% it lost this past quarter, it’s still pretty significant. Investor sentiment was at rock-bottom levels. But then, ETH prices skyrocketed 527% over the next three months.
There’s an important lesson here.
Not all quarters will have triple-digit rallies. We should expect months of backsliding or sideways trading as simply part of the cryptocurrency business cycle.
Why, you ask? Well, because blockchain technology is an emerging trend with massive political uncertainty. Regulators are only starting to wrap their heads around cryptocurrencies, how they work, and how they might impact global commerce.
Confronting these issues is exactly why ETH prices fell during February and March.
You might remember when, for example, cryptocurrency prices dipped ahead of a Senate hearing in early February. Investors were nervous about the Senate Banking Committee’s eagerness to haul blockchain experts up to Capitol Hill.
Markets breathed a sigh of relief when those hearings were concluded, but then the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) started taking action against sketchy initial coin offerings (ICOs). They issued subpoenas, fought legal battles, and even won a court case or two. This led, quite understandably, to an undefined sense of panic.
So that’s where we are right now—a market overrun by fear.
Analyst Take
I take comfort in the knowledge that uncertainty never lasts. It passes, sooner or later. So if history is any indicator, the market will eventually resolve these issues and redistribute capital to cryptos that generate real value. Ethereum is, and always has been, among the most useful of cryptocurrencies, which is why we maintain our $1,500 Ethereum price forecast for 2018.
Source: Price Confidential