It’s been a turbulent few years for the cryptocurrency market, starting with the global Covid-19 pandemic, followed by ongoing economic uncertainty and tumultuous geopolitical factors, and more recently, scandal.
In November 2022, the FTX exchange collapsed in dramatic fashion as founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts of fraud, embezzlement and criminal conspiracy. Then, earlier this month, Binance – the world’s largest crypto exchange – was fined an eye-watering $4.3 billion by the U.S. Department of Justice and the CFTC after pleading guilty to criminal charges, with CEO Changpeng Zhao agreeing to step down with immediate effect. As a result, the platform saw withdrawals from investors surpassing $1 billion in just the first 24-hours after the news broke, and it’s a number that will continue to climb.
Nevertheless, it’s been far from all doom and gloom for the crypto market, and on the flipside, Bitcoin – the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value – is riding high this month, having enjoyed a price surge of 120 percent over the course of 2023 that has put it in the strongest position it has enjoyed for some while. As a result, other cryptocurrencies like Ether and Solana are also performing well, putting these digital assets firmly back at the top of traders’ wishlists after several years of uncertainty and doubt – and trading platforms like Immediate Edge are once again reporting a surge in new monthly sign-ups.
Is the long crypto winter finally over, or are there still some dark times ahead? Here, we take a look at what’s in store for these big-hitting cryptocurrencies and whether you should stick, twist or buy as we head into 2024.
Bitcoin
Prices may be considerably higher for Bitcoin than they have been in some time, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to buy. In fact many industry experts would say that it’s quite the opposite. In 2021, the long-awaited Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) finally became a reality, allowing investors to speculate on Bitcoin in their brokerage accounts without direct access to the asset itself, but Bitcoin is still awaiting approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be able to trade under an ETF wrapper. The good news is, it may be coming as soon as January 2024, making the leading digital asset hot property and setting the potential for a huge surge in price once again and demand reaching an all time high.
Ether
The Ethereum blockchain on which Ether is run underwent a major upgrade last year to become a ‘multipurpose worldwide computer’ capable of running a host of decentralised and cloud-based applications – expanding its potential far beyond simply being a payments network. In fact, it’s precisely this blockchain on which the metaverse is being developed, and although the project could take up to a decade to complete, it has only further cemented the value of both the Ethereum blockchain and Ether itself, making it a more desirable investment than ever before.
Currently, Ether is the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world by market value, and has this year enjoyed a boost in price of 65 per cent. It might not be as dramatic an amount as Bitcoin, in part down to its state of regulatory uncertainty in the US, which may take some time to solve. Nevertheless, if you currently hold Ether in your crypto wallet, then it’s worth hanging onto, because in the long-term, the future is looking bright.
BNB
If there’s one digital currency you’ll want to sell right now, it’s BNB – a loyalty token that played a role in the development of disgraced global exchange, Binance. Enjoying a value of $100 billion at its peak, things are looking far less favourable at present, with investors now offloading BNB as quickly as they can. Prices have already tumbled by 12 percent, but just how far they are set to fall is anybody’s guess. It does still hold a value of $35 billion, owing largely to the discounting mechanism it offers traders on the exchange and of course, the fact that it’s the native token on Binance’s blockchain, the BNB Smart Chain. But with the tide turning against both Binance and its sister network, there could be some difficult times ahead, so if in doubt, it may well be time to sell up.
Disclaimer: Investing money carries risk, do so at your own risk and we advise people to never invest more money than they can afford to lose and to seek professional advice before doing so.
