August 2018 — most cryptocurrencies are down big times. BTC is hovering around $6,200, ETH around $320 and XRP at $0.30. The total market cap is around $214B. What is going on? It all started back in January 2018, after a massive bull run, starting in December 2017, which saw a massive spike in the value of pretty much every single cryptocurrency — with BTC hitting its ATH of $20,236.69 (yeah I know, sick!).
The effects of the bull run were simple: investors, from professionals to everyday people, thought they had found the key to their financial problems and started dreaming of a bright future in Lamborghinis and trips to the moon. The amount of hype generated by this bull run, with the complicity of the media, was testified by the number of searches on popular engines like google, with regards to Bitcoin and other crypto in general. That was a florid time for ICOs as well: I remember it was so hard to buy into ICOs at some point that you needed to join a waiting list to secure a spot. In the same period I got to know, studied and bought into Cashaa.
December and January were amazing months: all crypto wallets were green, there was a general euphoria in the social media and everyone was discussing cryptocurrencies with a smile on their face. People were so excited they started to invest in random projects, token with no real use case, ICOs with no teams, no timeline, no solid development — and even throwing couple hundred $ in tokens like Paccoin and Ponzicoin (yes, LOL!). Everything was hyped and the attention of investors was diverted from the real projects into scam ones: a real Crypto-Madness.
Then something happened — and I remember this quite vividly: CoinmarketCap decided to remove the Korean markets from their website. This was the beginning of the end, the doom. Investors saw the value of their token drop overnight by a whopping 30%: a drop which was not even real because the same tokens were traded at higher prices in Korea . I remember this as the first FUD and panic sell event of 2018. The reasons behind this move are currently not clear, but could be linked to the beginning of the manipulations, which have caused the whole marketcap to collapse by an average of 70% from its ATH.
Secondly, it came the FUD of the Chinese New Year (CNY), during which everyone supposedly stops investing in crypto to buy presents for their beloved ones. We were all observing our portfolios going down, by 10, 20 even 30%; but we were not worried because ‘when the CNY is over the market will recover and reach a new ATH’. Yeah, right. We are all still waiting!
Then it came the Crypto mining ban and announcements of banning crypto all together in China, Korea and other countries. Those news (namely one different version per week) were dominating the crypto space and meanwhile the market was collapsing. After it came the futures on BTC, and the whales, and the SEC and we could be adding more and more.
The more the tokens’ prices were collapsing the more people were panicking, selling all of their bags for 70/80% of their initial cost: this has ignited a vicious circle, which is still ongoing. At every tiny signal of recover, it followed a -15/20% almost instantly overnight. These are all signal of a sick market.
Now obviously what happened during the last 7 months has been a disaster for all of us, but we should look at its bright side. The positive outcomes can be summarized as follows:
More time has allowed advancements in the underlying tech of some of the tokens and the blockchain itself. Let’s think of the Lighting Network for BTC, Tron, EOS, Universa Main Net and others.
Most of the scammy ICOs and project out there are dying and the market is a bit cleaner now — on the contrary it could be argued that those who bought into them got roasted and won’t maybe touch crypto ever again. Or maybe they learned a lesson: never invest in a token/project based on pure hype and speculation without a real use case for the future.
If point 2 is true, there should be now less tokens out there in which people can/will invest, with the consequence that real/valid project might receive additional support when the market recovers.
We got rid of weak hands. The people who believe in the projects/tech behind cryptocurrencies are still holding (or hodling J) their bags. Of course, they’re not happy as they were back in December but they keep faith because they believe in the blockchain and in the projects in which they invested.
It allowed time to check which ICOs were real and which were a money grabbing scams instead. 80% or something of this year ICOs have failed to even deliver the most basic product, have not met the envisaged softcap and won’t have any use case for the future.
One of the ICOs that, instead, delivered what they promised, and is continuously trying to improve and please its community is Cashaa. The last updates are even more exciting: new revamped website, new roadmap (https://cashaa.com/roadmap.php) and, most importantly, a hybrid crypto/fiat wallet which will be released in October 2018.
November and December will also be key months for Cashaa, with the release of the new banking services platform for residents in some of the EU countries in the following currencies EUR, GBP, BTC, ETH and CAS. The platform will allow users to hold and trade crypto and Fiat in one single account, and to send money internationally in a fast, cheap and secure way. Later on, users will also be able to use a debit card connected to their Cashaa account, spend their money, and even withdraw at ATMs around the world. CAS, the native token of the platform, has a central role in the functioning of the ecosystem. In case you missed the ICO, you have now the chance to get some CAS at a very discounted price ($0.02). Having a working product after only one year from the ICO and having gone through a feral bear market is to be appreciated and recognised as a solid accomplishment for Cashaa. If things keep unrolling as they currently are, the next bull market will see Cashaa thriving together with other solid tokens/coins out there.
if you want to know more visit https://cashaa.com/
Hope this will come soon and bring a breath of fresh air to all the hodlers out there, present and future.
Disclaimer: this article does not constitute an invitation to purchase or sell securities in any jurisdiction or a solicitation or investment advice in Cashaa, CAS token or any other cryptocurrency, and is published for information purposes only. The reader undertakes to carry out appropriate research and in any case consult a professional before taking any decision regarding Cashaa or any other Cryptocurrency. The views expressed in this article are of personal nature, are not associated by any means with any Corporation, Cryptocurrency Exchange, do not constitute financial or legal advice. Use Kukoin and other Exchanges at your own risk.![Bull-Vs-Bear-Market-Characteristics-Banner-Image-1.jpg]