Crypto outlook: Another bull run or a crash; what experts expect

According to Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, it is hard to determine if this is a bear market. In an email to coindesk, he wrote, "I think the determination of a bull/bear market is not as clear as previous cycles, due to the structure of the market changing drastically with institutions entering the space."

One problem the broader crypto market has been facing is that it has been moving in tandem with stocks, which have continued to fall since the start of this year. Fear of tighter monetary policies from the Federal Reserve has led to investors selling risk assets like technology stocks.

"It's possible that macroeconomic concerns, such as the Fed's response to inflation rates, have facilitated more de-risking activity in general," said Juthica Chou, head of OTC options trading at Kraken, in an interview with CNBC. "The recent price drop, coupled with high volatility, could be leading to further selling as participants look to reduce risk."

Some experts predict the worst is not yet over for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies this year. Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, said in an interview with CNBC that she expects bitcoin to “tank to as low as $10,000 in 2022.”

"If I were an investor now, I would think about coming out of Bitcoin soon because its price will probably crash next year," she said. While this may seem like a fringe prediction, in 2018, Bitcoin fell from a high of $20,000 to $3,000 in a few months.

But it is not all gloom and doom for the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin has seen more institutional buy-in from major companies. There also seems to be more interest in regulations from the Joe Biden administration, which could be great for the crypto industry.

In many ways, 2021 was a "breakthrough," says Dave Abner, head of global development at Gemini, a popular cryptocurrency exchange. "There's tremendous focus and attention being paid to ."

Regarding the bear market we are facing right now, Ashish Singhal, Founder and CEO, CoinSwitch Kuber, India's largest crypto platform, has some words of inspiration for people skittish on digital currencies. He expressed his sentiments regarding the latest market downfall in a series of tweets.

"Every financial market has up and down cycles, aka bull and bear phases. Since the new year, #crypto markets have been testing the endurance of investors". He also went on to state that, "In 2021, crypto held firm during the peak pandemic and brought in an era of NFT and #Metaverse tokens. #NFT sales volume nearly touched the $25 billion mark. Many start-ups and large companies including the likes of Nike and Facebook are betting big on these themes."

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs provide unique ownership of digital assets like music, and art, among other things while metaverse is a virtual universe where people can interact, shop or participate in different activities through their avatars.