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The three big factors driving the crypto market

The three big factors driving the crypto market

Crypto

User adoption, investor fund flows and macro factors are currently the three big factors driving the crypto market. In this article, we will take a look at each of them.

This is part of our Crypto market update Q4. Download the report here.

User adoption
Although declining prices and market stressors have negatively impacted user growth in some sectors such as DeFi (Decentralised finance) and blockchain based gaming, user growth continued in other areas of the crypto ecosystem, even in the face of the bear market. Meanwhile, the consensus — which we share about the medium-to-long-term growth outlook for the technology — remains intact.

The build-out for using cryptocurrencies in payments has continued throughout the bear market. Major payment service providers such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and Stripe are all continuing to build their cryptocurrency payment services offering. Several studies of merchants and retailers found that many of them intend to accept crypto payments (a recent US study from Deloitte found this to be 75 percent), citing customer demand.

Despite the bear-market-related lower transaction volumes, the net number of entities using Bitcoin has continued to grow.

Central banks’ actions over the last two years, printing trillions to avoid a recession and then likely causing a recession to fight the inflation this caused, have strengthened the narratives of decentralised money despite the steep price falls. Unlike during the 2018–2019 crypto winter, the share of long-term Bitcoin holders reached an all-time high, signalling continued confidence in Bitcoin as a long-term store of value.

Although sectors where business models have been challenged have, for now, seen a reversal in user growth, other application sectors such as Web3 continued to grow their user bases even during the difficult second quarter.

Investor fund flows
The bearish trend in crypto has not slowed the interest from major financial institutions to enter the crypto market and/or grow their presence.

Many major banks and asset managers such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Fidelity, BlackRock continue making positive statements about the medium to long-term outlook for the crypto market, and continue to invest, hire and build. As with payment providers, they reference strong customer demand as the driver.

Macro factors
In an environment of inflation, rising rates and recessionary trends, investments in durable physical assets and companies or projects with real growth are the only way to preserve value.

The current macro environment is fundamentally negative for most assets. Negative real rates mean that cash only provides the illusion of value preservation. Meanwhile rising rates hurt leveraged companies, real estate and bonds. Indeed, government bond portfolios have seen a drawdown of “black swan” magnitudes recently, shocking 60/40 balanced portfolios. When it comes to productive assets, a recession hurts earnings and increases defaults except for recession-proof sectors and companies — which are the relative safe havens preserving value.

Real rates are currently in strongly negative territory, even when using the official CPI figures which understate the true extent of price rises.

About Sygnum
Sygnum is the world’s first digital asset bank, and a digital asset specialist with global reach. With Sygnum Bank AG’s Swiss banking licence, as well as Sygnum Pte Ltd’s capital markets services (CMS) licence in Singapore, Sygnum empowers institutional and private qualified investors, corporates, banks, and other financial institutions to invest in the digital asset economy with complete trust. Sygnum operates an independently controlled, scalable, and future-proof regulated banking platform. Our interdisciplinary team of banking, investment, and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) experts is shaping the development of a trusted digital asset ecosystem. The company is founded on Swiss and Singapore heritage and operates globally. To learn more about Sygnum, please visit www.sygnum.com.

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This document is purely for educational purposes and has been issued by Sygnum Group. It is not intended for distribution, publication, or use in any jurisdiction where such distribution, publication, or use would be unlawful, nor is it aimed at any person or entity to whom it would be unlawful to address such a marketing communication. It does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to subscribe, purchase, sell or hold any security or financial instrument. It contains the opinions of Sygnum Group, as at the date of issue. These opinions and the information contained herein do not take into account an individual‘s specific circumstances, objectives, or needs. No representation is made that any investment or strategy is suitable or appropriate to individual circumstances or that any investment or strategy constitutes personalized investment advice to any investor. Therefore, you must verify the above and all other information provided in the document or otherwise review it with your external advisors. Some investment products and services, including custody, may be subject to legal restrictions or may not be available worldwide on an unrestricted basis. The information and analysis contained herein are based on sources considered as reliable. Sygnum Group uses its best efforts to ensure the timeliness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness of the information contained in this document. Nevertheless, all information indicated herein may change without notice.

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