WStephen Ehrlich is the CEO of Voyager Digital. He discusses how crypto can be an asset class in the current environment and how it is changing our way to build wealth.
What are the major trends and factors that will impact the crypto industry/space in 2022
The confidence of consumers in crypto is growing. In our first national Crypto Confidence Survey 64% of respondents stated they believe cryptocurrency will gain in value by 2022. 48% claimed that cryptocurrency will be widely accepted within the next 3 years.
This is how disruptive technologies become part of everyday life. It all starts with awareness, trust, and adoption. Although crypto is not disruptive right now, consumers will soon see digital currency as normal and commonplace. This is similar to how the internet transformed from a novelty into a utility in a mere ten years.
We believe that digital currency will replace fiat as the plumbing to a financial-commercial ecosystem with far less friction and greater efficiency for innovators and builders.
How is cryptocurrency changing the way we build wealth and how can they help us?
Crypto is offering retail investors an easy way to diversify their portfolios and a simple way to invest in the digital infrastructure which will drive the next generation of finance and the internet. Retail investors expect a wide selection of coins and easy trading on crypto trading platforms.
Bitcoin outperformed all other major asset classes in 2021. The trending upward in hodlers indicates that cryptos long-term viability is a way to build wealth for generations. We believe that there are both long-term and short term reasons to be bullish about the asset class.
The price of crypto has been rising. What are your thoughts on the main factors that contributed to this increase in crypto prices? Do you see this upwards trend continuing through 2022?
Bitcoin has been up for eight straight days in the green. It reached $48,000 before cooling down to $44-45k. Markets can have short-term memories but the long-term trend is clear. The real question is: How does crypto as an asset class do against an inflationary environment.
Recent events have shown that crypto has shown a correlation with established markets, something that would have been dismissed as lunacy just few years ago. This is because of rising inflation concerns. We saw a decrease in inflation speculation and concerns about how fiat currencies would respond, which led to increased growth in traditional markets that mirrored the crypto market.
We expect that crypto will grow at a healthy rate, which will be in line with traditional markets, despite the fact that there are upcoming Fed rate increases and justified concerns about inflation.
How should average crypto investors approach it?
Although investing in crypto is similar to other assets, the benefits of crypto can be seen when people realize how much easier it is to diversify, build, and maintain a portfolio. To find the best cryptocurrency for you, investors should do their research. They can also invest through a publicly-traded brokerage such as Voyager. Investors can use the Voyager App to utilize a dollar costs averaging strategy, limit orders, and recurring purchases to invest steadily with an eye toward the long term.
This interview was originally published in TradeTalks newsletter. Register now to get exclusive market analysis by an industry expert each week.
These views and opinions are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nasdaq, Inc.
