Ethereum had its low in 2018 at $170. By Friday’s close, Ethereum had soared by 30% amidst a call by Ethereum Cofounder, Joseph Lubin to name the bottom five cryptocurrencies of 2018. In an amusing tweet, the co-founder expressed uncertainty gracing the less fortunate coins. Apparently, he claimed the bottom five was marked by fear and doubt from investors in the fourth and fifth crypto estates. Meanwhile, the week remained strong for almost if not all cryptos. Ether led the way, while Bitcoin also surfaced back to above $4,000. Ethereum mounted to one-month highs making up for former Bitcoin cash hard-fork losses.
There could be a couple of reasons that have led to the gradual improvement of Ethereum. While the cryptocurrency financial bubble had been spinning out of balance almost the whole of 2018; technical innovation has disrupted tradition towards more transparency and value. Institutional investors have also shown interest and it will be only a matter of time before regulations ease up for Blockchain. Finally, the solidity of Ethereum is also groundbreaking. The Blockchain has a definite roadmap for implementing smart contracts. An overwhelming developer community coupled with great support also makes Ethereum a stable platform.
ConsenSYS Set to Rebalance Priorities
On the same tweet, Joseph Lubin apparently addressed major layoffs happening at his Ethereum focused software firm, ConsenSYS. The founder explained how the company plans to shift its priority from those of a bluechip enterprise to a more traditional outlook. Nevertheless, the focus will be on improving efficiency, greater revenue, and accountability. In fact, Lubin reiterated that ConsenSYS would continue investing in projects. Therefore, to fulfill its mission as Blockchain technology incubator and capital venture enterprise. Finally, the founder added that the company would also focus on internal hiring for projects within the firm.
On the downside, Lubin expressed sentiment about journalists and bloggers who are lacking real data insight into the Blockchain industry. He described the situation as ‘an epic amount of conjecture and preemptive paranoia.’ However, Lubin expressed a lot of optimism for the future.
Contrary, sources have reported that ConsenSYS has laid off startups it had initially backed. In addition, the report claims some of them were spun out without revenue. Which to the very least impact is having more than 60% of ConsenSYS workforce being laid off?
Conclusion
The ongoing slump in cryptocurrency financial markets and the resulting job cuts may seem significant. However, the slump would rather seem benign in comparison to slumps in other industries. For instance, the Bureau of Labor ranks wired communication carriers as the industry with the highest number of job cuts. Momentum, however, will continue to grow. At the onset of Blockchain 3.0, there is much to expect come 2019. The Blockchain industry will surge upwards but to witness a 1000-times growth is quite a matter of possibilities.
