2018 wasn’t the best year for cryptocurrencies. The year was marred by a yearlong decline in prices that resulted in uncertainties in the digital currency industry. But as bad as the year was, there were still some positives to derive from.
In fact, the bear run itself flushed out weak of weak hands, thus helped mature the market. In addition, Experts in the digital currency market believe that there was some progress made regarding currency development and adoption during the year.
In comparison to a similar outlook done last year a time like this. There are no major changes in the top 5 cryptocurrencies (by market cap). 4 of the 5 top cryptocurrencies ranked in January 2018 made it to the list with some minor changes in positioning. Below are outlooks for the top 5 cryptocurrencies in 2019.
Bitcoin Gears Up For Mass Adoption
The flagship cryptocurrency has some exciting things to look out for in the course of 2019. All that can be summed up by two major developments coming up for bitcoin; an increase in transaction speed and increased interest from institutional investors
With the lightning network on its aid, bitcoin’s processing speed is expected to reach 10 transactions a second. The increased speeds in transacting make the currency feasible for mass adoption.
Speaking of mass adoption, the currency is also up to benefit from increased institutional involvement in 2019. Institutions are beginning to warm up for cryptocurrencies.
Ethereum Upgrade Preparations
Ethereum begins the year with an upgrade set for January. It goes by the name Constantinople and has an objective of improving efficiency and ASIC-resistant.
As for the smart contract currently on the network, they will be simulated on the new one. Ethereum has also confirmed another upgrade in an unspecified period within the year.
The second upgrade will see the implementation of the Casper protocol for improved security, elimination of the financial and environmental unsustainability.
XRP Developments Ahead
Ripple currently enjoys more in life uses than others in the digital space. The year began on a bang with the finalization of an agreement connecting SoarLabs, BytePower and ASX, an Australian crypto exchange.
BytePower and SoarLabs have reached an agreement to make online payments using Ripple’s payment service. Furthermore, the network also has an incoming deal with the National Bank of Kuwait to assist in the remittance of its services.
Bitcoin Cash Objectives Of 2019
Despite its hard fork and issues regarding hashing in 2018, Bitcoin Cash still managed to maintain its #4 spot.
The network has 3 main goals in 2019;
• Increasing its capabilities 50,000 times from its 100 Tx/s speed
• Improving payment experience by making it instantaneous and reliable
• Making bitcoin cash extensible and less troublesome when making future improvements.
As Roger Ver, an investor in the network says, Bitcoin Cash will change civilization and increase human freedom and prosperity.
EOS Projects In Development
The current EOS roadmap doesn’t provide details and dates. However, this doesn’t mean development and funding won’t be an objective by EOS executives.
At the moment, there are various DApps in development. They fall into various categories including gaming, voting and governance, identity, healthcare, privacy and security and many more.
In addition, there are updates expected in the network within the course of 2019 that should make EOS more desirable for developers.