While not everyone is a fan of Bitcoin, even its staunchest critics would be hard-pressed to deny its growing influence. One estimate by CryptoSlate envisions the cryptocurrency industry enjoying a similar adoption curve to the Internet and cellphones, which would in theory give it potentially 1.2 billion users by 2025. And of course, Bitcoin was the first crypto of them all and remains the most popular.
Yet there will naturally be bumps along the road to crypto’s widespread acceptance. Even if the entire month of May was one of those bumps, true Bitcoin believers won’t be dissuaded from bracing for a “moon in June” crypto comeback.
Bitcoin’s dip wasn’t necessarily about Bitcoin
Some traders may hesitate to buy Bitcoin in June because it had its first monthly decline of 2023 in May. Anyone harboring fantasies of Bitcoin breaking above $30,000 last month was undoubtedly disappointed as the token lost 4% of its value.
However, even though the fallout from the collapse of FTX might have been lingering in May, the main culprit behind Bitcoin’s price retracement was, most likely, the financial market’s general malaise in the face of macro-level uncertainty. Between the looming debt ceiling deal deadline and recession anxiety based on 10 consecutive interest rate hikes on federal funds since March of last year, investors had no shortage of excuses to dump their high-risk holdings — and crypto is certainly among the riskiest of asset classes.
Besides, as the old saying goes, trees don’t grow straight to the heavens. After zooming from $16,600 in early January to $29,000 in late April, it was not only understandable, but actually healthy for Bitcoin to give back 4% of its gains in a month.
Adoption will be the key to Bitcoin’s future
There’s no guarantee that Bitcoin will zoom in June, but the May dip means you can start a position or add to an existing one while Bitcoin’s taking a breather. Long term, you may end up regretting not buying Bitcoin this summer as the adoption curve could rapidly steepen before 2023 is in the rearview mirror.
To peer into what may be the future of cryptocurrency in the U.S., I invite you to look beyond our borders. In Laos, for example, the government openly supports a digital-transformation strategy that includes the blockchain. Meanwhile, a top central bank official in India enjoined bank directors in that country to “adopt innovative technologies such as AI and blockchain.”
Plus, the European Union recently took a huge leap forward by codifying cryptocurrency regulations as it passed the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation. The rules specified under MiCA should, if properly implemented, provide enhanced transparency to crypto transactions while helping to quell the concerns raised by the FTX debacle.
Turning back to the U.S., a CoinTelegraph article from March quoted former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney as saying he expects Congress to provide a “meaningful piece of legislation on blockchain/crypto,” perhaps even sometime this year. I’ll defer to his knowledge as a government insider, though I suspect that the wheels of progress will continue to turn slowly on Capitol Hill.
At least U.S. cryptocurrency miners managed to avoid a sizable proposed excise tax. The White House’s debt ceiling deal proposal had included a crypto tax, but that didn’t make it into the final bill. So, for the time being, progress in American cryptocurrency regulation may just mean not making things worse for the market. That’s fine, as Bitcoin is a global asset. Even if the U.S. lags in crypto acceptance throughout 2023, other nations can pick up the slack and give the blockchain its due respect.
David Moadel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
