The CEO of cryptocurrency hardware wallet maker Ledger believes that the price of Bitcoin is rising because of retail and more people trust it. Glassnode validates his hypothesis. Cryptocurrency prices rose sharply in the days leading up to Coinbase’s highly-anticipated listing on the Nasdaq this week, with regular traders anxious to join in on the action outpacing whales who were content to take their money and swim away, according to blockchain statistics.
Pascal Gauthier, CEO of crypto wallet firm Ledger, answered questions about the state of the crypto market as crypto prices rise after a drop last week.
Gauthier told CNBC in an interview at the Crypto Finance Conference in St. Moritz, Switzerland, that the situation with Bitcoin (BTC) is not surprising. The retail trend is well-established and always the same. In addition, he elaborated when compared to the number of whales, the number of addresses with the smallest amount of Bitcoin is actually increasing. People are onboarding Bitcoin, and they are trusting Bitcoin more and more. I believe this is a global retail trend. It is the people who will drive up the price. The people who believe in Bitcoin price will continue to rise in the coming years.
In addition, the allegation is backed up by data from Glassnode, an on-chain market information service. The number of BTC addresses with a balance greater than zero is at an all-time high, just shy of 40 million. Every year, the number of people engaging in cryptocurrencies continues to rise. As such, as Bitcoin is the most trusted cryptocurrency in the market today, its users continue to rise each year. The non-zero balance number is an interesting measure that provides a snapshot of Bitcoin usage. More addresses indicate that there are more people joining the Bitcoin network. This indicates retail is on the rise.
Gauthier expressed concern about projects that have recently outperformed Bitcoin when it came to altcoins.
He predicted that for some cryptocurrencies, this year would be a year of consolidation. He stated that the cryptocurrencies were projects that came to light last year; this year, they must deliver in terms of applications based on these protocols. Many cryptocurrencies are emerging nowadays, the deciding factor as to whether which one would have succeeded in the market is still a matter of chance.
Solana (SOL) provides an excellent value proposition for nonfungible tokens, according to Gauthier, and is in a good position to compete with Ether (ETH). While some of the top ten protocols saw high price speculation and hikes in 2021, the market expects “wonderful things” from these protocols.
“The token of a blockchain is the security of that blockchain,” he concluded with a firm rule for blockchains. The blockchain is more secure, the more expensive the token is. Security is one of the driving force of a blockchain. This is what makes or breaks it.
Over 50 protocols are now supported by the Ledger hardware wallet. Over the next three months, Ledger, France’s first crypto unicorn, will offer a crypto debit card. To compete with Mastercard, which is also releasing crypto-linked cards, it will surely draw on its crypto experience.
