a lot of the top digital assets in the cryptocurrency market have fallen significantly, but some market participants are shrugging their shoulders and focusing on the long game.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have fallen by 55% or more so far. The top two, bitcoin and ether, are down 56.5% and 68.5% respectively during that period.
But Pascal Gauthier, Ledger’s chairman and CEO, said during a panel at his company’s Op3n conference in New York City that “this doesn’t feel like a [crypto] bear market.”
“Now, for the macro economy, it’s a bloodbath,” Gauthier added.
For example, Swedish buy now pay later provider Klarna is considering raising capital at a valuation of about $10 billion, down from its mid-2021 valuation of more than $45 billion, Marketingwithanoy reported last week. And the values of a number of fintech companies are falling sharply, making the downturn even harder than most other sectors.
Gauthier also referred to the Nasdaq, which has fallen 26% so far. “So there are macro trends that affect everything on a global scale and everywhere,” Gauthier said. “So actually, the [crypto] market is fairly resilient and the [crypto] market has been affected by macro events and our own greed.”
Unlike? Long-time bitcoin holder Dan Held, director of growth marketing at crypto exchange Kraken, said during the panel that “this crypto winter is just as harsh as the others.”
“It’s getting cold, but I’m still as optimistic as ever about bitcoin,” Held said.