The University of Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance has published the results of a study which concludes that speculation or predictions about the “death” of bitcoin (BTC) are “greatly exaggerated.”
Researchers at Cambridge University have also reported that the number of verified cryptocurrency users doubled during the first three quarters of 2018. Despite the extended digital asset bear market, there are now 35 million verified crypto users worldwide. Other findings from the study revealed that most of the people involved in the cryptoasset space are retail investors as institutional investors have not yet made substantial investments in the volatile asset class.
Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study By Cambridge
The report, titled “2nd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study”, revealed that “diversification has increased, with a rise in cross-segment expansion.” Specifically, 57% of crypto-related firms have started offering “integrated services”, including “multi-coin support” which has increased “from 47% of service providers in 2017 to 84% today.”
Many studies published earlier found that digital currency mining had become increasingly centralized. However, the geographical concentration of mining may not be as big of threat, or problem, as previous reports have suggested. According to the latest studies, a large share of the power required by crypto mining facilities is being sourced from regions producing renewable energy.
The Cambridge study also found that the crypto market is maturing as more regulators throughout the world are beginning to understand how to regulate cryptoassets. Many self-regulatory organizations have now been established by key players in the crypto space, the Cambridge report noted.
Crypto Market Cap Still “Exceeds Jan 2017 Levels”
Despite the considerable drop in digital currency prices, which has seen the market capitalization of all cryptoassets fall from an all-time high of over $800 billion to presently just above the $100 billion mark, the Cambridge report mentioned:
Statements proclaiming the death of the cryptoasset industry have been made after every global ecosystem bubble. While it is true that the 2017 bubble was the largest in Bitcoin’s history, the market capitalization of both Bitcoin and the cryptoasset ecosystem still exceeds its January 2017 levels.
“Prior to the start of the bubble”, the speculation of “the death of the market” and the industry has been “greatly exaggerated”, the report concluded. Considering there are now more crypto users than ever before and many new blockchain startups have been launched this year, the worst case scenario might be that the future expansion plans of cryptoasset ecosystem participants will, “at most, be delayed”, according to Cambridge University’s research study.
