The Chief Commercial Officer of Bitpay, Sonny Singh, told Bloomberg this week that he and his colleagues at Bitpay have “never been more bullish” about Bitcoin though certain “altcoins” (cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin) will never recover from current market downturns.
Bitpay is a Bitcoin retail payment processor founded in 2011. In 2015, the company launched a Bitcoin wallet a year later created a Bitpay prepaid debit card with partners at Visa.
In short, says Singh, the next crypto market resurrection will be brought about by mainstream adoption of Bitcoin:
“I think right now the market is looking for some defining moment- a catalyst…I think next year you’re going to see the big entrants become real, where you see Goldman really does launch a trading desk, Fidelity does launch a Bitcoin product, Square does launch a Bitcoin payments option for merchants…Then you’ll see some adoption actually, and then you’ll see the price actually lifting back up…”
Altcoins have tracked Bitcoin’s up and downward trajectory this year as they have in other years, but are not likely to be invited to the mainstream, says Singh:
“You know Fidelity, Blackrock, they’re not launching alt coin products. They’re going to launch Bitcoin products.”
Singh also does not see adversarial treatment of Bitcoin in large economies like China, India and Russia as particularly effective. He also believes that India will soon have a change of heart about Bitcoin:
“I think in the next year or so, you will see India open up to (Bitcoin). China and Russia are the big lock hards…(but) China controls a big percentage of the Bitcoin market even still today, actually, so they are very much more powerful than India…in terms of Bitcoin markets around the world.”
Litecoin creator Charlie Lee has characterized current markets as consolidating and a chance for companies to prepare for growth. Singh expressed similar sentiments:
“Bitpay and people I’ve talked to in the industry, we’ve never been more bullish actually…Business is great, we’re hiring more people, we’re working with several global, large brands around the world, no-one’s stopping their implementations. Everyone’s going full speed ahead.”
But altcoins will not see the same lift in coming bull markets:
“Where I think the issue is, again, is in the altcoins. Those will never come back…in the same way a Bitcoin will come.”
Singh sees mainstream Bitcoin adoption taking place some time in 2019, and says Bitpay and others are getting ready:
“So Bitcoin will rebound next year when all these products become mainstream adopted. And we’re seeing no slowdown at all at Bitpay, our merchants are seeing great growth, they’re signing up more and more people all the time. We’re hiring more salespeople…Coinbase is doubling their team…”
“But Bitcoin, again, is the leader in the space.”