An Optimal Moment for Crypto

After close to a year characterized by a mixture of price decline and tightly range-bound sideways movement, it might seem counterintuitive to declare that this is an optimal moment to get into crypto.

Bitcoin and other coins have made some gains this week, but still, the leading cryptocurrency is down from almost $70,000 towards the end of last year to around $20,000.

What’s more, the economic landscape is, at the moment, defined by monetary tightening, inflation, recessionary concerns, and declining house prices. Throw in, to varying degrees and depending on which county you’re in, political disarray and civil rancor and the macro outlook is choppy.

Why Is Now a Good Time to Look at Crypto?

Firstly, let’s acknowledge well-worn but evergreen investment advice, and some specific points around Bitcoin and crypto. From the simplest perspective, we of course want to buy low, when there is fear in the markets.

In the case of crypto, we additionally have Bitcoin’s four-year halving cycles to help us navigate. We should, according to these patterns, be at or close to the cycle bottom now or in the coming months.

Many observers contend that there is another leg down for bitcoin, while a few maintain that the bottom is already in, but either way, if the halving cycles hold then we are in or approaching an accumulation period.

However, prices and market cycles are not the only reasons to be paying attention to crypto.

A Moment of Clarity for Crypto

The crypto space is currently experiencing a moment of relative tranquillity when it’s possible to perceive the state of development with enhanced clarity.

Looking around, we see that despite the economic turmoil, bitcoin has been holding remarkably steady at around $19,000, with Ethereum staying above $1,000, while the volatility crypto traders usually thrive on has been absent.

This situation will not last forever, but it’s notable that buyers and sellers have found temporary but sustained equilibrium at a level that could, plausibly, turn into a healthy future launch pad.

What’s more, all eyes are on what's to come, as the case in favor of sound money and decentralized networks is reinforced. Are fiat systems displaying faults and fragility? It certainly looks that way. Are centralized tech platforms exercising heavy-handed control over user-created content? There are plenty of dissatisfied customers who will attest that is the case.

In fact, that latter issue is so prevalent that a key talking point around Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition is the extent to which he will ensure the restoration of suspended accounts.

If Bitcoin, Ethereum and the rest of crypto are to solve these kinds of problems, then the stage is set, and they appear ready to make a long-term impact.

Risks Are Lower than Ever for Crypto

Like it or not, Bitcoin is becoming an established presence in the financial world, and it seems highly unlikely that the networks, meaning tech, investment, media, and social/cultural, now in place around crypto will simply cease to exist.

The questions of whether bitcoin can be used as a currency, store of wealth, or inflation hedge, are starting to appear redundant, since bitcoin actively is being used as all those things, right now.

And yes, that does include an inflation hedge. Convert fiat into bitcoin when inflation will be coming, and convert back into fiat when inflation is due to be tackled, and you’ll find that you just protected your wealth.

Ethereum too looks less risky than just a few years ago, as it is being utilized as the primary architecture on which DeFi mechanisms, NFT projects, and other decentralized applications are constructed.

There is greater risk associated with cryptocurrencies such as Cardano, Solan, and other altcoins, but these protocols help to ensure a highly competitive layer 1 environment.

Wider Crypto Application

The days when being interested in crypto simply meant buying bitcoin and Ether, and then holding on to them for a while, are fading into the past. This is not to say that buying and holding bitcoin and Ether is a bad strategy (it’s been highly effective so far), but simply that blockchains are expanding out across multiple sectors, and there is much to explore.

Bitcoin is disrupting the ways we think about money, banking and value, while Ethereum and other networks carve out original creative spaces in gaming, art, fashion and possibly social media.

And, then there is the metaverse, a wildly misunderstood concept, but an area of development that can potentially, in some form, change how we interact online.

The metaverse does not, contrary to some interpretations, require that we spend our days with seizure-inducing goggles strapped to our heads floating around virtual reality. What it might enable, though, is greater ownership of our online content and assets, and independence from centralized tech platforms.

You can certainly find voices asserting that there is no need for crypto in gaming, social media, or any other sector, but crypto is not butting up against such views, since blockchain developers are simply going ahead and creating parallel alternatives.

Those who wish to participate will do so, while those who are indifferent are not obliged to pay attention, but if you had to pick a trend, then the course towards blockchain technology stands out most clearly.

Hostility towards Crypto Is Out-of-Date

Crypto skepticism and critical questioning are helpful. However, there is sometimes an attitude of outright hostility towards crypto in parts of the media and online.

This manifests as a rote negative reaction to any mention of the subject, always implying that crypto is inherently bad. It’s an attitude that is unwilling to budge an inch, no matter what developments take place in crypto itself, or around money, payment systems, and online interaction.

This uninquisitive approach tends to repeat worn-out clichés (crypto is a Ponzi, everyone involved is a crypto bro, NFTs are a scam), while refusing to engage with evolving technology, flaws in the monetary system, or any of crypto’s potential benefits.

Increasingly, though, such attitudes appear conspicuously out-of-date, and, unlike constructive scrutiny that identifies crypto problems in the hope of solving them, add little to discussions that are moving forward rapidly.

As it becomes increasingly apparent that crypto is here to stay and can enable significant positive change, we should expect some hardened criticism to resolve into honest curiosity.