Controversial cryptocurrency investor and influencer Ian Balina says he’s enjoyed an “amazing” month in the markets.
Mr Balina, who made millions from the ICO boom before claiming to lose much of it to hackers, says the positive period has come as a “godsend.”
“My last month has been amazing,” Mr Balina told Micky.
“I think the market is getting better … I think based on the stuff I’m seeing … I think the bottom is here.”
Cryptocurrency is still in the ‘beginning’
Mr Balina has copped a lot of criticism for the hope and optimism he gave investors during the massive spike in prices during 2017, however he continues to speak positively about the long term future of the space.
“I would say although Bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency is now out of the mainstream news, people are still building,” he said.
“I mean I went around the world tp over the 35 countries last year and people are building and I would say this is just the beginning.
“Innovation here is real. We have big companies joining this space. We have Samsung putting out a cryptocurrency wallet, we have Facebook launching a cryptocurrency this year, we have even J.P.Morgan – who bashed cryptocurrencies – also getting into this space.
“So I feel like the enterprise world is adopting not just Blockchain or distributed ledger technology but cryptocurrencies themselves.”
Cryptocurrency trends for 2019
Mr Balina says the industry is now starting to see a lot of hype around Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs).
“Now almost every exchange out there is launching their own token and their own platform for hosting ICOs on their own site, which is what an IEO is,” he said.
“And then (companies) are also launching their own blockchains.
“OKEx is launching their own blockchain, Binance is launching the blockchain on their own desk next month, then we also have KuCoin that’s going to be launching their own Blockchain this year.
Message to the skeptics
Mr Balina says those who don’t believe in cryptocurrency and blockchain need to do their research.
“I mean, the more you learn about this the more you know … this is the future.
“This may be early and it may be hard to grasp, but imagine trying to grasp the Internet 1995 or 1998.
“You have to kind of look at it from that perspective … I mean why would all these large companies be in the space if they don’t believe in this?
“I mean yes they could be late to the party, but they’re still going to be at the party.”