Cryptocurrency market size

Cryptocurrency market size

There is no gain saying the fact that Cryptocurrencies are taking up the technological space and most transactions are carried out with cryptocurrencies. The cryptocurrency market cap for the year ending 2018 was estimated to be between $1-2 trillion. Bitcoin has the largest market share in the cryptocurrency market. As of 2018, its market cap exceeded $70billion with a trading volume of $3billion per day.

Blockchain technology has a whole lot to offer. It has a great potential of changing traditional processes as diverse as banking, cybersecurity, academics, and voting. It has been estimated that blockchain technology will house 10% of blockchain technology.

Cryptocurrencies are most mined by miners making use of mining pools. For instance,70% of global bitcoin is being mined in China. The majority of bitcoin mining equipment is manufactured in China.

TYPES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Ever since the launch of bitcoin in 2016, there has been a rapid surge in the number of cryptocurrencies. As of today, there are over 1000 cryptocurrencies in existence. These coins are rather called “altcoins” which is a short form of “alternative coins”. Over 600 of these coins are worth over $100,000 by market capitalization.

Since its launch, bitcoin prices have been on the rise. It dipped below $8000 in 2018 when news of tougher and more strict regulation from South Korea and China. In the same year, the popular trading platform, Binance, got hacked and the cryptocurrency regulatory system SEC cracked down on some other crypto exchanges. This further led to the dipping of Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s market share was 81% in June 2016. The market share reduced to 41% in 2017. Ever since then, bitcoin has continued to record considerable progress surpassing its all-time highs in January 2021.

Ethereum is also an Altcoin that has increased in market capitalization over the years. In 2017, its market capitalization was around $28billion. It was initially predicted that Ether’s market capitalization would surpass that of bitcoin, however several underlying issues with Ethereum technology have led to a steady decline in its value.

IS INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES WORTH IT?

The big question on the mind of many investors. The worth of a digital asset is determined by its demand and supply. With the launching of the metaverse and other virtual reality projects, It is estimated that the value of cryptocurrencies will increase as they will be widely accepted as mediums of exchange.

Challenges of the cryptocurrency market

Accounting- The US has reinforced its efforts to regulate cryptocurrency trading and investment activities, they’ve also increased its effort to make crypto market participants accountable. However, regulation and accountability are low in countries such as Germany and UK where cryptocurrencies are seen as private money and are not subject to tax.

Regulation;

The BitLicense system was created by Newyork Since the inception of the BitLicense system, only 3 BitLicenses have been issued while a large number of BitLicense applications have been rejected. Cryptocurrency regulation in Asia is very high as well. The Chinese and South Korean governments have taken hard stances on cryptocurrency regulation.