According to a report analyzed by CNBC last Wednesday, a technology investment bank has predicted that cryptocurrencies will suffer a "strong correction" of 90 percent, which will lead to a "complete sweep" of the market.
In the report of GP Bullhound called "Token Frenzy: The Fuel of the Blockchain" (Tokenmania: Blockchain fuel) describes the current panorama of the crypts, the chain of blocks, initial offers of currencies (ICO) and a perspective about of what the future will bring.
One of the predictions presented in the text is that of the severe correction that cryptocurrencies will experience, 90%, during the following 12 months, and to which very few companies will overlap.
The main author of the report and director of GP Bullhound, Sebastian Markowsky, said that prices may remain high due to the intervention of institutional investors, added to the participation of retail investors in the market, who will get cryptocurrencies at high prices.
As major declines begin at the end of this year, sales will skyrocket, producing "panic," and, finally, correction.
Markowsky points out: "However, once this cryptographic winter passes , the growth dynamics of the few survivors will be unprecedented."
By market capitalization, Bitcoin remains the number one crypt, followed by Ethereum and Ripple. Despite having reached unsuspected levels at the end of 2017, the main cryptocurrencies suffered significant declines during the first three months of this year, although they have shown a slow subsequent recovery.
Both the value and the purpose of cryptocurrencies have been the subject of intense debate, especially during the past year. Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University and president of the consulting firm RGE Monitor, predicted that Bitcoin would go down until it was worthless.
This pessimism about the future of the crypts is shared by the famous and frugal investor Warren Buffett, who in January told CNBC: "In terms of cryptocurrencies, in general, I can say, almost certainly, that they will reach a bad end."
In the opinion of the experts, there are a number of factors that would influence the price rise of the crypts in the coming months, but they agree that the behavior of investors will dictate at the end where the numbers will point.
When asked about the subject by e-mail, Charlie Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare, replied the following to CNBC: "We are going to see four factors at stake this year: regulation, greater interconnection of markets, greater quantity and variety of instruments and the influx of institutional money. These are all catalysts and bring efficiency to the playing field. "
Against the gloomy augury that looms over the crypts, there are those who still remain optimistic. One of them is Thomas Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat, which claims that Bitcoin could reach US $ 25,000 this year.
The report issued by GP Bullhound also elaborates on the amount of ICO that constantly come to light.
According to the study, the Initial Offers of Currencies raised more than US $ 4 billion in 2017, but at the same time a few important scams have occurred in the sector. CNBC was involved in the discovery of one of them, where the scammers obtained more than US $ 2 million in booty, mocking their investors.
GP Bullhound predicts that capital support for startups and their ICOs will continue, but will be much more cautious. Serious investors will take more care if the projects meet the minimum requirements to consider putting their money into them.
"It will not be possible to raise money by just asking for it at the end of a whitepaper. I think that people will have to see more products, the level of demand (of the investors) will rise quickly, "Markowsky told CNBC by telephone.
Source: CNBC