Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto will take at least 2024 to “recover from abuse by unscrupulous players,” says one of the industry’s most prominent names.
In a blog post published Dec. 30, David Marcus, CEO and founder of bitcoin firm Lightspark, disappointed bulls with his outlook for the years to come.
Marcus: The “crypto winter” is expected to last until 2025
Less than two months after the FTX collapse, the fallout continues to unsettle sentiment and price action alike.
For Marcus, famous for his crypto role at Meta and before that PayPal, bad actors have a lot to answer for and their specter will remain in the crypto industry beyond 2023.
While only mentioning FTX once, he referenced what he called “ruthless players” who are delaying market underperformance even beyond the next year.
“We won’t exit this ‘crypto winter’ in 2023, and probably not in 2024 either,” he summarized.
“It will take a few years for the market to recover from abuse by unscrupulous players and for responsible regulation to be enforced. Consumer confidence will also take a number of years to be rebuilt, but I believe that ultimately coming true will be a beneficial reset for legitimate industry players in the long run.”
Should Hodler have to wait for their “silver lining,” it could further disrupt the historical patterns that Bitcoin in particular has adhered to throughout its existence.
In particular, the four-year halving cycles that lead to growth in certain years could pose a challenge. 2024, the year of the next halving, is increasingly being heralded as a period of bullish price action, with some starting the uptrend a year earlier – in the second quarter of 2023.
Even if the recovery is taking longer than expected, Marcus believes that a new and stronger industry will emerge when that happens.
“In crypto, years of greed will give way to real-world applications,” he continued.
“The years of creating a token out of nothing and making millions are over. The music has stopped.
He paid particular attention to the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which he said “will show promise as the world’s most effective open, interoperable, cheap, real-time payment protocol.”
The optimism is thinned out towards the end of the year
As Cointelegraph reported, other big names have also spoken out about crypto’s long-term prospects after FTX.
Related: Bitcoin ‘not undervalued yet’, says research, as BTC price drifts closer to $16,000
Among the loudest was investment giant ARK Invest, whose CEO, Cathie Wood, was outspoken in responding to events nearly two months ago.
“The bitcoin blockchain has not missed a beat during the crisis caused by opaque centralized actors. No wonder Sam Bankman Fried Bitcoin didn’t like it: It’s transparent and decentralized. He couldn’t control it,” read a widely shared tweet in mid-December.
In terms of price action, meanwhile, opinions continue to differ on how the first quarter of 2023 might play out.
Some believe the worst of Bitcoin’s recent bear market is already over, while others continue to warn of a deeper BTC price plunge to $10,000 or below.
BTC/USD was trading around $16,500 on Dec 31, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed, and will continue to avoid major volatility in hours to the 2022 annual candle close.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
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