2021 saw the rise of NFTs through Times Square billboards and billion-dollar monthly sales volumes. Hundred-million-dollar digital Apes were touted by celebrities and some of the world’s biggest brands even dropped their own NFTs. As markets crash, investors are left wondering if NFTs were just a passing fad. With the cryptocurrency market has entered a bear market and the global economic outlook less than optimistic, it’s no surprise the new asset inside of the already volatile cryptocurrency market does not look too hot right now.
The cryptocurrency market has always moved in cycles based partially on the Bitcoin Halving, leading long-term investors to expect these large crashes. While NFTs gained popularity quickly, they are an underlying asset to cryptocurrency and are likely to follow in market movements.
Rainmaker Games CEO and founder, Will Deane, sat down with us to talk about the future of the cryptocurrency market, NFTs, the macroeconomic environment and even some on-chain analytics. Rainmaker Games is a gaming platform aggregating links, reviews, prices, and more for all the most fun, reputable blockchain games.
Q: It’s dire times for those who leveraged assets on short-term Bitcoin price. What do you see when you look at the crypto market right now?
A: Well, there’s no denying that some of the biggest coins have dropped a lot in value over the past year. But then you have a bounce of something like 18% for Bitcoin this month, and Ethereum is doing pretty well, too, not to mention Ethereum Classic. So there’s some green shoots there.
Q: Why are people saying that “crypto is dead?”
A: You’ll see some of that in some media – but when you look more closely, it’s a lot of media where people are at some distance from crypto in general. They don’t necessarily understand the market that well. If any other asset dropped that much, the analysis would be a little different. But with so much infrastructure investment in crypto, as in El Salvador or even right here on the American street with Bitcoin ATMs, there’s some built-in stability in play. With a total market cap of around one trillion dollars, crypto isn’t going anywhere.
Q: What other metrics give you cause for enthusiasm?
A: Well, Bitcoin dominance is still relatively good at around 40%, so that signals that Satoshi’s original coin is still hanging in there, and we might be seeing new highs by Thanksgiving or so. And hash rate showed good signs in July.
Q: What about NFTs? What does that market look like right now?
A: If you want to look at really surprising growth, the NFT market was something like $200 million in 2020. Then in 2021, it was something like $22 billion! Analysts in any other market would give their eye teeth for that kind of growth. And though there may be ups and downs, people are coming into new realizations of what NFTs are for and why people would buy them. First and foremost, with none other than Facebook-now-Meta rebranding for the metaverse, there’s every reason to expect that people will be buying NFTs for avatars. So that’s a kind of street-level trend. And don’t leave out play-to-earn, where NFTs and crypto will be fodder for new transactions methods in online gaming, and beyond.
Q: What are some signs to look at for future forecasting?
A: I would continue to look at some of the companies that got on board early with using BTC as a capital reserve asset. Not dabbling around, but in a big way. Both Microstrategy and Tesla come to mind. Check the stocks. Look for news: what did the BTC crash do to their finances?
Q: And in terms of investment?
A: There’s no end of secondary plays where you can invest in companies with skin in the game when it comes to crypto. You can also get into crypto derivatives, which I would recommend only if you know something about where coin prices are likely to end up.
Q: What about major pressures in current events?
A: Well, one bright spot, aside from any Fed rate hikes, is the recent release of CPI data showing pretty significant inflation. Bitcoin, and to some extent altcoins, are a hedge against inflation of the dollar, so I’d expect them to benefit.
