For those of us who have been looking at the crypto with much anxiety in 2018 should have some reassurance from the fact that people that have vested interest in equities markets also didn’t sleep too well.

Be it equity, debt, real estate or currency — 2018 has been a wealth destructing year. More than 60% of the stocks corrected more than 30% despite a very modest gain in the Sensex. A large part of the stocks gave negative returns and compared to that, 2019 will be a much better year both in terms of the wider scale participation of stocks in the market as also the select stocks which will be larger in number as compared to last year and will give any portfolio a good 15-20% return potential despite the volatility which can be expected to be continued this year.

However, none of the global markets came close to losing 90% of their valuations as cryptocurrencies did. Bitcoin, which set the trend for other cryptocurrencies fell to a market cap of $67 billion fro the highs of $830 billion on 7th of January. Altcoins also followed the same trend. XRP, for example, had a high of $3.75 in January which fell to $0.36.

People are more optimistic about 2019. The chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, John Stoltzfus, said:

“With what we believe to be almost all but the kitchen sink priced into current valuations, we see an opportunity for multiples to return to levels seen at the end of the third quarter … with multiple expansions resulting in a global equity rebound in the coming year. That said, we do not expect a rally of great significance to emerge until sometime into the first quarter of 2019. We look for market risk to weigh on investor sentiment into the new year until catalysts for a rally of some material significance appear on the scene”

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