‘Headed For Oblivion’—$800 Billion Crypto Price Shock Raises Fears Of Catastrophic End For Bitcoin And Ethereum
Bitcoin
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Bitcoin price has fallen below $15,500 per bitcoin while ethereum price is falling towards $1,000 per ether (despite Elon Musk giving a surprise price prediction for 2023).
Now, as the combined crypto market falls below $800 billion for the first time since late 2020 and down from $3 trillion this time last year, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has warned the bitcoin and crypto industries may be “on the road to oblivion.”
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“It is difficult to see what advantage these firms would have over ordinary banks,” the Nobel laureate and retired Princeton professor wrote in a New York Times
“Even if the value of bitcoin doesn’t go to zero (as it still might), there is a strong case that the crypto industry, which grew so big just a few months ago, is headed for oblivion.”
The FTX collapse, following a brief battle between FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and the CEO of rival exchange Binance, has sent the bitcoin and crypto industry reeling, with rumors swirling that other major companies may be about to follow FTX in in bankruptcy.
FTX’s sudden collapse has also sparked calls for regulation to better protect crypto users after many lost access to their crypto assets on FTX and other crypto companies were forced to suspend withdrawals to weather the storm.
Last week, as US President Joe Biden led the G20 calling for stricter global crypto regulations, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that FTX’s fall “demonstrates[s] the need for more effective oversight of cryptocurrency markets,” adding that the same protections offered in traditional markets should apply to crypto assets.
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Many in the bitcoin and crypto space have also called for regulatory clarity to better protect customers and root out bad actors.
“If crypto is to survive, we need to see an agreed form of regulation coming from the industry and overseen by regulatory bodies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to ensure that proposed standards are upheld,” Anna Becker, CEO of bitcoin and crypto trading platform EndoTech, said in an emailed comment.
“Strengthened regulation is urgent and must be established immediately. For retail investors, who are not as familiar with risk as professional investment firms, they deserve reliable oversight, guidance and risk disclosure.”