Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he believes that crypto volatility will stabilize like Gold in his recent interview on the ‘state of the crypto markets’ and the ‘future of blockchain technology’.
He has predicted, “I definitely think that in the medium-term future cryptocurrencies will settle down and be only about as volatile as gold or the stock market”. Although he added that he doesn’t know at what value.
Vitalik also spoke about proof of work, proof of stake, and the hesitation among Bitcoiners to embrace the latter.
Vitalik said it was surprising to him that the current crypto bear market didn’t have an effect sooner than it did. While prices were high, he said he was sure they’d ultimately drop – he just didn’t exactly know when.
He said, “When the prices are rising, lots of people say that it’s the new paradigm and the future, and when prices are falling people say that it’s doomed and fundamentally flawed. The reality is always a more complicated picture somewhere between the two extremes.”
Crypto has conventionally experienced four-year market cycles, in line with the halving of Bitcoin’s supply issuance rate that happens every four years. Bitcoin’s price has risen steadily across each cycle and also the asset’s percentage return in each period.
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The developer agreed to the implication that Bitcoin is following an adoption curve, where the market ultimately saturates and imitates the value stability of gold.
He said he doesn’t know where crypto will saturate. Vitalik said that even though crypto’s established use cases and market role are becoming solidified, so is the confidence regarding crypto’s potential limits.
Vitalik suggested that crypto could replace gold as a store of value, and become a “Linux of Finance” by 2040, and still would not become mainstream. With this demonstration, Vitalik pointed out it will reduce the chances that crypto will “either disappear or take over the world completely in 2042.”
Vitalik also touched upon the Ethereum Merge and said, proof of work is bad for the environment and also less secure than proof of stake. In order to provide energy required to defend the network, miners must continuously be rewarded with new coins to fund the network’s safety.
Also read: All about the Ethereum Merge