Economy
Buy Ethereum Now as Value May Hit $7,609 in 2022—Experts
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A report by Finder.com has projected that the price of Ethereum (ETH) will likely reach $7,609 in 2022 and could fall to $6,000 by the end of the year due to heavy competition.
In its Ethereum Price Predictions Report, Finder.com’s panel of 33 fintech, cryptocurrency and NFT specialists predicted that ETH will peak at roughly 102 per cent higher than its price at the beginning of the year, advising investors to hold the digital coin.
But the Permission chief product officer Vanessa Harris thinks the move to the proof-of-stake model (PoS) will lead to a significant decrease in ETH’s price and predicts ETH will be worth just $100 by 2030.
“Ethereum has the strongest ecosystem of any smart contract platform but is plagued by high gas fees and low scalability. The move to Proof of Stake is unlikely to solve Ethereum’s scalability challenges though, and we should look to L2s and side chains to support ETH scalability,” she said.
As for the founder of Finder, Fred Schebesta, he predicts ETH will peak at $7,000 before dropping to $6,000 by the end of 2022 due to heavy competition.
“While the network certainly has advantages in global market awareness and developer base, it is also against increasingly strong competition that Bitcoin does not face by contrast,” he stated.
University of Brighton senior lecturer Paul Levy thinks ETH could go as high as $9,000 and will end the year at around $8,000.
“Ethereum, if it stays on top of technical and innovation challenges, will continue potentially erratic growth with the potential to thrive in the medium to longer term. It is an early innovation success story and that innovation potential needs to be matched by further innovation capability,” he said.
Longer-term, the panel predicts ETH will be worth $10,810 by the end of 2025, and $26,338 by the end of 2030. Though significant increases from ETH’s current price, these are 30 per cent and 48 per cent lower respectively than the panel’s predictions in October 2021.
Ethereum’s anticipated move to a PoS will likely lead to a price drop, according to one in ten panellists (11 per cent), while 79 per cent say the move will increase ETH’s price and the remaining 11 per cent say there’ll be no impact or they’re unsure.
Overall 19 per cent of the panel say it’s time to sell ETH, compared to just 10 per cent who say it’s time to sell Bitcoin (BTC). Meanwhile, 52 per cent say it’s time to buy Ethereum, and 30 per cent hold.
The Panxora Group CEO Gavin Smith expects a price drop following the move to PoS and thinks it’s time to sell.
“The improvements provided by proof of stake will not outweigh the negative impact of excessive gas prices. The change made recently to gas calculations will cancel out any reduction in gas prices that proof of stake would have provided.
“ETH is likely to be surpassed by a number of other smart contract blockchain protocols over the next 5 years,” he added.
Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters’ technologist and futurist Joseph Raczynski is part of the majority who says PoS will lead to an increase in ETH’s price and says ETH will cost $8,000 by the end of 2022, before reaching $15,000 by the end of 2025.
“Scalability and throughput are king, but doing this in a decentralised manner with security is critical – POS on ETH in 2022 should get them there.”
CoinSmart CEO and co-founder Justin Hartzman agrees with Raczynski but gave a slightly lower prediction of $7,500 for the end of 2022. He adds that the only real concern he has regarding PoS is the speed of its rollout.
“If the Ethereum 2.0 model is successful and PoS is properly implemented, we can expect ETH to moon real hard. My only concern is the speed of the rollout. Ethereum tends to be a bit slow with its updates, however, the community mostly supports any and all of their initiatives,” he said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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