Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin
BTCUSD,
-2.70%
and ether
ETHUSD,
-2.48%
have exploded in popularity in recent years, and are now traded by both individual investors and large companies like Tesla
TSLA,
-1.71%
and Citibank .
The total market cap for all crypto nearly hit $3 trillion during parts of 2021 and companies like Robinhood
HOOD,
-5.91%,
Coinbase
COIN,
-9.76%
and Crypto.com capitalized on higher volume of crypto trading.
As the interest in crypto continues to rise, so does the interest in crypto prices.
Here’s how crypto prices changed in May 2022:
Bitcoin
Prices for bitcoin dropped 20.08% lower during May, continuing a soft 2022 for the crypto.
Despite bitcoin’s lower prices, not many investors are trying to “buy the dip,” according to a note on Tuesday by Glassnode.
“The recent sell-off, and lower prices has not yet inspired an influx of new users to the space, and only the HODLers remain,” the analysts wrote. HODLers is slang for people who buy crypto with no intention of selling.
One bitcoin forecaster recently told MarketWatch that he sees a potential eclipse-like event in the next few years for bitcoin that could lead to the crypto’s price moving over $100,000 by 2024.
But during an interview with CNBC, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernake said he doesn’t think bitcoin will take over “as an alternative form of money.”
Bitcoin is down 15.75% over the past 12 months at the time of this writing.
Ethereum
Prices for ether decreased 33.07% during the month of May, continuing a downward trend for the crypto in 2022.
Paul Brody, global blockchain head at Ernst & Young Global, said he believes Ethereum will eventually “take over everything,” despite increased blockchain competition from Cardano
ADAUSD,
-3.94%
and Solana
SOLUSD,
-5.01%.
“We’re very selective at EY about which ecosystem to work in. We audit across many ecosystems, but we only do development in the Ethereum ecosystem,” Brody continued.
See also: Here’s how sports-betting stocks like DraftKings and Caesars performed in May 2022
Ether is down 28.97% over the past 12 months at the time of this writing.
Other cryptocurrency news
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban wrote in a viral tweet that he thinks crypto is on the same downward trend that tech and internet companies hit in the early 2000s.
“Crypto is going through the lull that the internet went through,” Cuban wrote in a Twitter
TWTR,
-0.10%
thread.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, admitted in May that some Coinbase users’ crypto assets may lack certain bankruptcy protections — Armstrong also stated that bankruptcy is not likely for his company.
See also: Crypto gets political: How cryptocurrency impacted some primary elections
House candidate for Oregon’s 6th Congressional district Carrick Flynn lost his Democratic primary in May despite nearly $11 million in donations from FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried donated to Flynn because of Flynn’s interest in pandemic preparedness, he told the New York Times — Flynn says he studied pandemics and disaster prevention at the University of Oxford.
