After a tough start to 2018, which saw the cryptocurrency market lose $100 million in a 24-hour period at the beginning of February, the industry has made a slight recovery. At the time of publishing bitcoin is once again trading above $11,000, after falling to a low of $6,000 at the start of February.
Over a seven-day period, it has seen its value rise by nearly 30 percent, pushing its market value to $186 billion.
The founder of the Ethereum network has warned that the cryptocurrency market could ‘drop to near-zero at any time.’
Taking to social media over the weekend, Vitalik Buterin said:
Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time.
The 24-year-old Russian-Canadian programmer advised that investors should only put in the money that they could afford to lose, adding:
If you’re trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.
Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time. Don’t put in more money than you can afford to lose. If you’re trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.
– Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) February 17, 2018
Even though second-placed ethereum is still trading below the $1,000 mark, it too has experienced positive advances and has seen a near 11 percent rise over the past seven days. It’s currently trading at $952 with a market value worth $93 billion.
Buterin is one figure that has actively spoken out about scammers in the crypto market. As one individual who has been impersonated by fraudsters the Ethereum founder has warned users not to trust people offering digital currency on Twitter. These questionable offers often ask users to send a certain amount of cryptocurrency in exchange for a larger reward.
Unfortunately, as Buterin points out the cryptocurrency media can often play a role in making these offers look legit.
Cryptocurrency media is now, even if out of ignorance/stupidity, complicit in making twitter scams look more legit.
Also, the ECF is *not* an EF initiative; it’s an independent community organization with some EF participants as advisors.
– Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) February 18, 2018
Earlier this month, Ethereum World News reported that the Ethereum Community Fund (ECF), which funds and connects the growth of the Ethereum infrastructure, was to be advised by Buterin, Ayako Miyaguchi, the managing director of the Ethereum Foundation, and Vansa Chatikavanij, the managing director of OmiseGo.
In December, Buterin compared the frenzied investment in the digital currency market to that of $450 million Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which sold at auction in November. Referring to the popular CryptoKitties, he stated that this was ‘a reflection of the world at large.’
