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Ayear needle, Bitcoin was trading at € 16,000. Today, it's € 3,600. So was it all just a bubble? Yes, say some. No, say others. "Demand has fallen, no question," says Peter Nagle, the co-founder of the Cork-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitcove.ie.
"There's been a big price, but there's been a big drop in price.
This year, analysts say, will go some way to sorting things out.
But the last few months in Ireland have not been particularly promising. The country's highest-profile project – Ireland's 'Crypto Coast' initiative – Reuben Godfrey.
Meanwhile, a succession of court cases and high-profile hacks placed Bitcoin and Ethereum in a negative light, rather than the efficient alternative payments.
In the first time in 2018, only to get financially burned.
"People got overly excited and now they're overly depressed," says John Gleeson, a Dublin-based Bitcoin trader and writer. It is dropped a lot, but it's the fourth time it's dropped 85pc or more A lot of what happened is related to the false promises of other alt-coins that have to light. than two years ago, you're actually up. "
How many people actually own or have traded Bitcoins? Some industry practitioners estimate it at around 100,000. "We have dealt with around 40,000 ourselves in Ireland," says Peter Nagle, whose firm contributes to buy and sell Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple and other cryptocurrencies. "But there are lots of different services out there."
A difficulty in estimating the size of the Irish crypto market is a policy of non-engagement by banks and conventional equity-trading firms. Crypto-assets such as Bitcoin.
"Goodbody does not give you access to that asset class," a spokesman for the brokerage told the Irish Independent.
Other main brokers here have a similar rule. This does not mean that Irish investors do not invest in cryptocurrencies. Within mainstream financial firms, some funds have allocated percentages for what are called 'alternative strategies'. This sometimes includes crypto-related enterprises or funds, although
Say, is its unregulated status.
The rules are not transparent or reliable enough, nor is there an administrative chain of responsibility that regulated investors can live with.
In the US, some institutions are moving to address this. The owner of the New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental, is launching a new crypto-focused exchange.
Its big draw is that it promises to be regulated, giving a degree of assurance to those interested in cryptocurrencies. (It is still waiting for approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission). It has assembled (including Microsoft), it has just raised $ 182m in funding.
But even if cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin become more acceptable as traded commodities, they still face the enduring problem that the cryptocurrencies have had since the beginning: when, if ever, will ordinary people feel they can use the technology? Cryptocurrencies are simply out of bounds for the vast majority of ordinary people.
"We have a cryptocurrency ATM in Cork and are going to put one in Galway and then hopefully in Dublin," says Bitcove.ie founder Peter Nagle.
The idea is for people exchange euros for Bitcoin and vice versa. It is not clear that people have many options to use cryptocurrencies for the kinds of activities they associate with conventional money.
Bitcoin-compatible payment systems (such as Coinbase) for online retailers do not. For example, two-thirds of Irish shoppers use Amazon, but the giant web does not take cryptocurrencies.
In some respects, things have actually gotten worse. The influential online payment firm Stripe recently stopped processing Bitcoin payments because it took too long for transactions to go through.
Cryptocurrencies places an inordinate spotlight on shadier activities where crypto is front and center. So when the Luas.ie website was hijacked earlier this month, most people learned that the hackers were trying to Bitcoin to unlock it.
Fraud, too, is a problem. Because so much activity around cryptocurrencies is unregulated, scams and flim-flam operations are common. Last year, US authorities undertook hundreds of formal crypto fraud investigations with 50 cases taken.
The high-profile digital coin BitConnect went bust in dramatic fashion last year following a cease-and-desist order from US regulators. The enterprise, which has been valued at over € 2bn, is being pursued for losses of almost € 1bn. Market analysts say that much of this was invested by ordinary people, lured by the promise of getting quick on a rising crypto market.
But it's not all doom.
Behind the scepticism and doubt lies for the most important technology behind cryptocurrencies – blockchain.
Here, business looks brisk. Dozens of Irish institutions have committees or steering groups committed to integration. Banks such as AIB, Ulster Bank and Permanent TSB are trialling blockchain-based payments through schemes like Project Greenpay.
"This is a big year for the adoption of the technology in real life applications," says Lory Kehoe, managing director of the Consensys's Ireland office. ConsenSys is a blockchain company set up by one of Ethereum's co-founders, Joe Lubin.
"Kehoe says," A number of companies are bringing their solutions into the world for consumers to use.
That includes platforms such as Komgo, a new blockchain platform that has been launched by large multi-nationals such as Shell, Citi, BNP Paribas and ABN Amro. The venture will "seek to digitalise the trade and commodities finance sector through a blockchain-based open platform", the consortium said in a statement.
"This is real," says Kehoe. "The government is getting involved too." There are now three projects that the European Commission are working on and Ireland is a part of this. We are a part of it. "We will have a functioning legal entity as to how to drive forward with the technology."
Despite the upbeat assessment, ConsenSys has not been immune from the industry pressures. 13pc of its staff go in a 'streamlining' exercise.
Kehoe says that he does not extend to the newly opened Irish office, which currently employs 40 and is still hiring.
"There is soon to be significant announcements from ConsenSys in Ireland as a project with Irish companies," he says. "We're still growing in Ireland, I'm a really strong team here, I know the answer to whether we're downsizing here is no."
Kehoe is not alone. Blockchain, as opposed to straight cryptocurrencies, has a growing number of advocates from 'respectable' business circles.
"With the amount of the money entering the world, and the underlying technology behind it, the blockchain, the underlying technology behind the cryptocurrencies will come to the fore," says Angel Versetti, CEO of Ambrosus , a blockchain-powered Internet of Things network for food and pharmaceutical supply chains.
Some services are already there, others say. "In growing numbers, you are trying the Rize app by live streaming company YouNow, downloading the Brave web browser, or utilizing events ticketing service BlockParty which runs concerts and music festivals through their blockchain-based application," says David Wachsman, founder and CEO of Wachsman, services with clients such as Coindesk and Indiegogo.
"The recent sharp plunge in crypto markets … has been a knock-on effect and has been created for the challenge of the entirety of blockchain technology. -use cases. "
Wachsman 's view that' s cryptocurrencies are set to be around for long – term is echoed by others in blockchain businesses.
"We will continue to see expansion in this area," says Brent Jaciow of Utopia Music, a blockchain-powered music tracking and attribution platform. "Some of the primary functions include enabling fractional ownership of assets, allowing the tokenisation of assets and ideas to become impossible with traditional capital markets."
In Irish cryptocurrencies.
"For me, Bitcoin has never been stronger," says John Gleeson. "The network is still extremely secure and has never been hacked." We're in a cycle. "
Belfast Telegraph
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