Civic CEO: Crypto Winter Not Over Until Bitcoin Leaves Alts Behind

Rick Delafont

Last Updated: April 10, 2019 9:00 pm

3 mins read

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The CEO and co-founder of blockchain-based identity platform Civic (CVC) has stated that he does not think the crypto bear market is over just yet. Vinny Lingham Tweeted that any upward surges are ultimately unsustainable until Bitcoin price can move independently of the other digital coins.

Lingham’s opinions stand in stark contrast to many analysts in the crypto industry who believe that downwards trend observed following the 2017 crash in Bitcoin prices is over. The South African entrepreneur states that too much upside without a decoupling between Bitcoin and the many alternative cryptos will ultimately lead to more investor pain.

Lingham on Bitcoin and Alts: “Maybe We Need Another Bubble to Learn More Lessons?”

The CEO of the Civic blockchain-based identity platform, Vinny Lingham, has offered a contrary view on the current Bitcoin and wider crypto market than those provided by many analysts of late. The South African crypto entrepreneur took to Twitter earlier today to provide his “unfiltered thoughts” on the subject:

Many people believe that the crypto winter is over. Here are some of my unfiltered thoughts on this topic. Charts & technicals aside, I don’t believe this rally is sustainable for one reason: The market has not yet decoupled the various crypto assets from Bitcoin.

— Vinny Lingham (@VinnyLingham) April 10, 2019

Unlike Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, RT News’s Max Keiser, and Morgan Creek Digital’s Anthony Pompliano, Lingham does not believe that “Bitcoin is back” just yet. Instead, he states the latest dramatic price move upwards will likely end in more downside for the leading digital asset by market capitalisation.

The CEO bases his opinion on the fact that Bitcoin is still largely correlated to the rest of the crypto space in terms of price. He states that altcoins still rise alongside Bitcoin, “irrespective of value”:

“Bitcoin could double overnight, but does this mean other assets should too, even if nothing has changed on their end in term [sic] of development, network etc?”

Lingham believes that a fair price could be $10,000, $20,000, or even $100,000 per Bitcoin. However, to get there the number one digital asset must increase its dominance over the rest of the crypto market.

He states that the current situation in which alts rise in tandem with Bitcoin is indicative of non-Bitcoin cryptos getting boosted by improvements to BTC’s fundamentals and that this is ultimately contrary to logic:

“How can we have a situation where the market price of one asset dictates the value ascribed to other unrelated assets, irrespective of whether or not anything changes in their own separate networks.”

Ultimately, Lingham shares the view of controversial yet often-proved-right YouTube technical analyst, Tone Vays. Vays, a fierce Bitcoin maximalist, states that Bitcoin simply cannot have reversed the trend it has been stuck in for over a year now until it is able to decouple completely from altcoins.

The former Wall Street trader believes that the current movement is simply another bull trap and Bitcoin price will most likely return to between the $1,000 to $2,000 range in the short to medium term. During this drop, Vays claims that alts will suffer much more and ultimately never recover. Once investor confidence is truly desecrated, BTC can move northwards in a sustainable fashion once again.

Although less forthcoming with price targets than Vays, Lingham’s Tweet today seems to echo this sentiment:

“The key indicator for the start of a sustainable bull run is likely a decoupling of asset values from Bitcoin (i.e. Bitcoin’s strength weakens other networks or vice versa). Anything else is just speculation again (maybe we need another bubble to learn more lessons?”

Finally, the Civic CEO states that a move to the upside of $6,200 for Bitcoin could result in much more dramatic gains. However, he goes on to warn that the correction following such a surge is likely to be extremely violent, unless the decoupling himself and Vays are calling for occurs prior to or during such a move.

Featured Image from Shutterstock.

Rick Delafont

Based in Europe, Rick has written about the cryptocurrency industry since 2016. He was first drawn to Bitcoin as a means of payment but quickly became fascinated by its wider potential implications. His interests lie in the political, economic, and social impact of the unfolding digital asset revolution.