Bitcoin, Ethereum and Lamden Find Stability in an Unstable Market

It was November 2021 when Bitcoin reached highs of nearly $69,000. Investors have watched over the past year as the price steadily dropped to its current value. 

Stock markets haven’t fared much better. Over the first six months of 2022, the S&P 500 fell nearly 20% and the NASDAQ slumped by more than 28%.

There’s a variety of factors that experts point to as causes for the downtrend including increased inflation, steadily rising interest rates, the war in Ukraine, and bottlenecks in supply chains worldwide.

A number of exploits, bankruptcies, and regulations have also rocked well-known projects and shaken confidence.

It’s estimated that hackers have stolen nearly $2 billion worth of cryptocurrency so far this year. In August for example, a mobile wallet software exploit where private keys were compromised, impacted Solana users and caused the theft of over $5 million.

Regulations also continue to have an impact on prices. Earlier this month, the U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control issued sanctions against Tornado Cash, a digital currency mixer, due to potential use of the platform for money laundering.

Additionally, several filed bankruptcies for major finance applications such as Voyager Digital Holdings and Celsius Network have further deteriorated trust in the market.

While the next few months may continue to see bumps from these events, some analysts look to a brighter 2023. This will be aided by a recovery of the Chinese market, sidestepping a potential global recession, and moderating inflation.

Marko Kolanovic, an economist from JPMorgan, recently told Business Insider that “We maintain that inflation will resolve on its own…” He predicts the Fed will avoid a large increase in interest rates due to upcoming US elections.

This could spell good news for the crypto market as developers continue to focus on releasing new products to maintain value and grow their user-base.

Ethereum, the second crypto in overall market cap, has seen a similar drop in value since 2021. However, the ETH token has experienced a recent rally and has almost doubled from its low in June. The upcoming Merge, where the Ethereum blockchain will transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, is likely contributing to its recovery.

Jeff Scott, lead developer at Lamden.io, a Python-based blockchain platform, isn’t worried about the current market. “Lamden as a company is stable and has many different ways of drawing revenue,” explains Jeff. The Lamden developer is currently in the process of implementing community nodes to bring additional stability and decentralization to its users.

As with any bear market, prices will eventually reach a level where investors feel comfortable buying back in. Some analysts predict markets to reach this level before 2023.