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 Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
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