By Bill Taylor/Managing Editor
- Come on in. The cryptocurrency and digital token pool is open and ready for new "swimmers". After surviving significant losses in the first quarter of this year, seeing big (no, huge) new "players" getting involved in cryptos (think Soros, Rockefeller, Goldman Sachs, etc) and firming bitcoin prices, surveys show around 20% of financial firms will "jump in the pool". According to the website Quartz, twenty percent of all financial firms want to "start buying and selling digital tokens" this year (2018).The website is reporting that "(a)round one in five institutional financial firms have plans to start buying and selling digital tokens within the next 12 months, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters."
Pulling from Reuters brand new Bitcoin sentiment data, which did not specifically mention the stature or size of firms (proprietary, I guess), the new digital token participants seems to be spread over a very broad-based spectrum.
So, when will the "swimming pool" start to be filled with theses new swimmers? Most say they will be involved within three to six months. That's pretty fast so the enthusiasm is certainly picking up. Of course anytime the price of something (bitcoins, stocks, oil, etc) begins climbing the enthusiasmALWAYS
goes up. With new regulations and credibility allowing more players into the market price targets are also climbing. Recent voices have been heard calling for bitcoin $25,000-$100,000 by year end. Just yesterday Pfeffer Capital partner John Pfeffer said bitcoin may eventually hit $700,000. So, one other thing that will almost certainly happen, the "crypto haters" (hello Jamie "its a fraud" Dimon) will be out yellingBUBBLE BUBBLE
. You can spot them as they drive down the street in their horse drawn carriages. More and more studies and surveys are confirming what we already know. Cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, bitcoin and all are becoming mainstream and an integral part of the financial system. Brave new world.