In 2021, everyone was hopeful that the crypto industry would take off and bring investors to the moon. Come 2022, and it’s safe to say that not everyone carries that same outlook.

While there has certainly been growth for some crypto coins, it’s clear to see that crypto isn’t performing well. This can be tied to a few key reasons.

For one, an oncoming recession continues to dissuade people from investing in these financial assets.

Secondly, major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have plummeted since their all-time high. Even long-term moving average graphs like the MA200 and MA50 show a bearish trend.

On top of that, rising interest rates, inflation, and a turbulent global situation have made stock options and cryptocurrencies far less appealing to the general public.

So, the question remains—should you be buying crypto in 2022?

Let’s weigh the facts, the pros, and the cons.

1) “Be Fearful When Others are Greedy…”

“…and greedy when others are fearful.”

This quote by esteemed billionaire investor, Warren Buffett, is often heralded as one of the most important pieces of advice in the investing world. And it absolutely applies in the cryptocurrency world.

As prices continue to drop and the market solidifies as a bearish downtrend, it’s not uncommon for more conservative investors to take the backseat when it comes to trading cryptocurrency and wait this one out.

However, some would argue that it’s exactly during these bearish times that the conditions are perfect for scoring a quick profit thanks to lower prices.

While cryptocurrencies may not return to their all-time high for months, the nature of the market has historically been cyclical.

Take for example the early cryptocurrency crash of 2018. Bitcoin has lost over 70% of its value in just a matter of weeks, from $18,000 to $3,000. Despite that, Bitcoin has managed to recover and hit a new all-time high of $68,000 the following year.

Trading and cost averaging during slow periods can help investors buy more Bitcoin or Ethereum at a discount.

And in the future, if and when the market corrects itself, these investors will be able to reap the rewards of their risk and cash in at a higher rate.

2) The Market is Overly Volatile

The cryptocurrency market is considered to be one of the most volatile in the financial world.

A day doesn’t go by where there isn’t some sort of news that rocks the boat, whether it’s a positive or negative development.

For instance, Terra Luna has gone from a top 5 cryptocurrency coin with high potential to a virtually worthless token, falling 99.99%, in a matter of days last May 2022 as soon as its stablecoin UST depegged from its $1 price.

Unlike stocks where there are safeguards and measures in place to prevent blatant market manipulation, the crypto world is still dubbed the Wild West by regulators—and rightfully so.

This volatility often leads to dramatic price swings that can leave unskilled and conservative investors down double-digit percentages in a matter of hours, which is something that doesn’t happen in normal stock trading conditions.

While more established crypto tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum are not as volatile as some of the smaller altcoins in the market, they may still be viewed as high-risk assets when compared to stock index funds like the S&P 500.

3) The Future is Hopeful

In spite of these concerns, many remain optimistic about the future of cryptocurrency—and for good reason.

For starters, Bitcoin and Ethereum have become household names at this point, with more and more people becoming interested in buying these tokens in an Australian crypto exchange, like Independent Reserve.

On top of that, there’s a healthy deployment of various new protocols that continuously elevate the standards of the industry as a whole. This ranges from better governance models to improved staking mechanisms, and everything in between. 

This not only benefits the cryptocurrency bubble, but it also extends far beyond and overlaps with real-world applications in fields such as tech, law, logistics, and finance.

And with a total market cap that’s still relatively small when compared to other asset classes, there’s more than enough room for growth in this space.

Should you buy crypto in 2022?

With all of this in mind, should you buy crypto in 2022?

By analyzing the market as rationally and informed as possible, it’s possible to make decisions that could lead to profitable investments in the future. But to answer the question—it depends.

If you’re a conservative investor who doesn’t have the time to research individual crypto, then it might be best to wait on the sidelines for now and see how the market pans out. You could also try to invest in safer options like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

If you have a higher risk tolerance and you’re familiar with the inner workings of cryptocurrency, then there might be some good opportunities for buying altcoins in 2022.

But most important of all, never invest more than you’re willing to lose. 

Many people have lost their life savings in the crypto market as a result of complacency or bad luck. It’s important to treat cryptocurrency as a high-risk investment and research your options thoroughly, no matter how optimistic you might be about its future.

To date, the threat of a quantum computer to Bitcoin no longer seems as fantastic as it was some time ago.

Quantum technologies are developing rapidly and the emergence of a quantum computer that can hack the bitcoin blockchain based on ECDSA P-256 is just around the corner.

The problem is not even that a quantum computer can hack bitcoin. The problem is that a quantum computer of sufficient power will be able to crack any classical crypto-protection at all, including any quantum-unsecured blockchain.

Although Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency with the largest capitalization, it is just one cryptocurrency. To date, there are more than 20 thousand cryptocurrencies on the cryptocurrency market and 99.9% of them do not have protection against a quantum computer attack.

The development of quantum technologies in recent years

Dr. Mark Webber from the University of Sussex said that in order to crack the protection of bitcoin, you need a quantum computer with a capacity of at least 13 million physical qubits (analogue of bits in classical computers). It will take 24 hours for such a quantum computer to crack the Bitcoin ECDSA P-256 elliptic curve. At the time of the interview, Dr. Webber said that the best quantum computers have a power of 50-100 physical qubits.

On the other hand, IBM promises to create a quantum computer with a capacity of 1000 physical qubits by 2023.

And in January 2022, the appearance of the first quantum computer in Europe (in Germany) with a capacity of 5000 qubits was announced.

Technologies do not stand still, and today no one can say exactly when a quantum computer of sufficient power will appear to crack 99.9% of all classical cryptography that exists today, including the cryptography of most of the blockchains that exist today. And the question is not even whether this is possible or not, but the whole question is only when exactly this will happen?

The US government and government agencies are already preparing for the transition to post-quantum cryptography

The American government already at the end of 2018 issued a document called “NATIONAL QUANTUM INITIATIVE ACT”

This law, in fact, aims to promote quantum technologies and US dominance in the world arena in the field of quantum technologies.

Following this, the US government agency NIST released a white paper in April 2021 called “Getting Ready for Post-Quantum Cryptography” about the quantum computer threat to most classical cryptography methods.

In 2022, NIST has identified four candidate algorithms for standardization. NIST will recommend two primary algorithms to be implemented for most use cases: CRYSTALS-KYBER (key-establishment) and CRYSTALS-Dilithium (digital signatures). In addition, the signature schemes FALCON and SPHINCS will also be standardized.

Does quantum secure blockchains even exist?

Yes. In 2018, the first quantum-secured QRL blockchain was launched.

This QRL project is secured by XMSS (eXtended Merkle Signature Scheme), a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-approved post-quantum secure digital signature scheme.

The capitalization of the QRL project is about $13M at the time of writing.

The Future of Quantum Technologies

No one can say with an accuracy of up to a year when a quantum computer with sufficient power will appear to crack most of the cryptography methods that exist today.

It is only clear that we are not talking about a decade, but about the next few years.

It is also clear that it is unlikely that any scientific researcher in their right mind would want to hack the bitcoin blockchain or any other blockchain.

The point is not that someone will seriously engage in hacking blockchains, the point is the very possibility of this hack.

That is why all parties interested in the security of their projects should take care of the transition to post-quantum protection today.