What to Expect From 2019?

"We're entering a new phase in the development of the crypto trading sector. As a result of SEC enforcement actions, the industry's barriers are rising, which will leave existing under-funded non-compliant exchanges, of which there are hundreds, with 3 options in 2019:

1) raise money in order to become a compliant broker-dealer with ATS (alternative trading system) license to satisfy regulators (investors will flock to the first movers and to quality so this won't be easy for hundreds of the exchanges);

2) avoid the stress & fiscal struggles in becoming compliant by selling the business;

3) shut down, voluntarily or involuntarily."

"There are many concerns over cryptocurrencies in use right now. For the average person, ‘what is crypto’ ranks top of that list. We see crypto volatilities, ICOs, new currencies, and the entire thing feels pretty science fiction.

What I do know, is we are in our third major technological revolution. There was the personal computing revolution, the communications revolution (Wifi!), and we are now in the storage revolution. This is precisely where big data falls, and it is powered by blockchain technology.

What does this all have to do with cryptocurrencies? The answer is: we don’t know. The currencies here today may be gone tomorrow, as new currencies are launched and consumer trust in primitives disappears. On the other hand, as consumers become more comfortable and safe with bitcoin, etherium, and others, they may well continue forever."

"We will see a US legislative bill in 2019 that will advocate for light-touch regulation, and will place the authority to regulate the digital asset markets under a certain regulatory body. The positive regulation and clarity coming to the U.S. will set the stage for further institutional adoption, approval for a crypto-backed ETF, and the rebound of prices in 2019."

"I predict that blockchain payment technology will continue to advance, and be one of the biggest trends in 2019. In 2018 we saw merchants from many industries begin offering cryptocurrency payments, and the technology has come a long way in a short amount of time."

"The technology will be used in government, especially with taxes (this is already being implemented), private sector, and medical, as well as aerospace. Blockchain will also become commonly used for everyday transactions, including home and car titles, legal contracts, government contracts, retail inventory and distribution. I could go on and on."

"2019 on the crypto side will be the year of the STO (Security Token Offering), and this will extend far beyond the types of companies who used ICOs in the past. You will see many token offerings by more established companies who will be using the STO structure to raise funds rather than an IPO or Series B/C offering."

"Rampant market manipulation will continue to oppress cryptocurrencies in the near-term, and I would not hold any digital tokens with the expectation that returns will be acceptable. There may be three or four price spikes throughout 2019, as is usual when manipulation activity changes strategy, but they will be followed by hard, steep drops in price."

"Some of the problems we see going forward are foreign interference through IP-based attacks on blockchains in the United States and elsewhere. I think it's an immense issue that will be talked about much more in 2019 — that U.S. patent applications for blockchain technologies increased at least 400% in 2018, and most of those applications came from Chinese companies, but Shadow Foundry's ramping up its development work and I think we can do at least 50 filings for our inventions in response. The war for blockchain supremacy will get real in 2019."

"Fundamentally, until blockchain is tied to a monetary policy of a nation, there is no way it’s going to gain mass adoption. It’s a hobbyist technology at best. Monetary policy is how economies exist, and as long as blockchain (the currency) side tries to position itself outside of that policy, it will always meet roadblocks to adoption."

"Stablecoins will continue to play a growing role in the crypto ecosystem as people want the benefits that come with crypto — decentralization, speed, security — without the volatility. We'll continue to see accelerated adoption in use-cases where crypto is easily and obviously superior to Fiat, cross-border payments for example."

"Hype will continue to deflate and the buzz surrounding ICOs will die as the market matures and moves to a more traditional equity funding model similar to the mainstream tech world. Organic demand based on platform utility will eventually push the industry beyond the death of hype-driven valuation and set it up for long-term viability."

"Security token offerings will grow in popularity, as they allow asset owners to fractionalize illiquid assets and create a market (and price discovery) for esoteric physical assets (such as niche art, collectible wines etc). Factionalizing these assets via the blockchain democratizes the investment market, and allows retail investors to participate in opportunities which they would have otherwise be priced out of."

"90% of current crypto companies will fail. This is a positive development, as just like during the dot-com bubble, there are thousands of companies in the sector peddling nothing but vapourware. The ones that survive will be the amazons and googles of the crypto world. Prices will start to rise in Q4 2019 just ahead of the next BTC halving."

"Enterprise IT and data professionals are increasingly looking at blockchain technology for its decentralized, cryptographic and immutable qualities. As a result, 2019 will no doubt witness a rise in the adoption of blockchain technology by enterprises globally.

However, as the implementation of blockchain technology scales, so will the level of sophistication that hackers employ to break into this supposedly secure technology. Hackers are already stealing $9 million every day from individual crypto wallets and have already developed techniques to install malware onto enterprise blockchains.

In addition, it will be a year that will continue to see more intervention from regulatory bodies with newer ways in place to monitor and control bad players in the blockchain space."