How Crypto and Web3 Companies Can Survive Multiple Bear Markets | BitPinas Webcast 25

To further boost and encourage the #CryptoPH Community in this ongoing crypto winter, Jay Villarante, the CEO of BSP licensed exchange Moneybees, shared his experiences and techniques on how he survived the four bear markets that he encountered since 2012. 

Moderated by BitPinas EIC Michael Mislos, Villarante spoke during the 25th episode of the BitPinas Webcast, with the topic focused on “How Crypto and Web3 Companies Can Survive Multiple Bear Markets.”

Episode Notes

Villarante’s Hope in the Country’s Blockchain Industry

• For the CEO, when he joined the Coins.ph Hackathon back in 2014, he was optimistic on the things that will happen because of the blockchain. 
• “Fundamentally, in society, the problem is about money. That’s the problem that is fundamental—money. How can we make money more transparent? I think there was a time that (we talked about) blockchain killing the government.”
• In 2019, Villarante wrote the book “Blockchain: A Catalyst for Good Governance in the Philippines.”
• Further, the CEO expressed that when he started being vocal about blockchain technology, he thought that this emerging technology will definitely revolutionize the government. 
• Villarante also revealed that back in 2015 to 2016, he was among the thought leaders that were invited by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), when the central bank was thinking about regulating Bitcoin. 
• “Regulating is the way to go. Because if we banned it, it’s gonna go underground, and it’s gonna be harder to trace the transactions. So making it regularized, then the transactions will be more transparent.” 
• He then admitted that while he recognizes the community’s frustration with regulating digital assets, he “doesn’t want people to use crypto for malicious activities.”

Defining Bear Market: From A BSP-Licensed’s Exchange Perspective

• Villarante shared that one of the signs that the bear market is already happening is when Moneybees starts to experience lower volume of crypto transactions. 
• “That’s my definition of crypto winter—people are less interested in crypto. The opposite of that is the bull market—people are crazy about crypto.”
• The CEO explained that what he meant by “crazy” is that the community just buys everything just to gain a profit—and “a lot of it is scam.”

How to Survive a Bear Market?

• For the Moneybees CEO, all types of businesses experience a bear market, not just crypto. 
• “You have to be really smart so that you can survive the bear market. Save for the rainy season. I’m not gonna say where to save for the rainy season, but be very smart with money.”
• Echoing his statement about the community being crazy about buying everything just for earnings, Villarante tipped that investors should be aware of biting on the projects, as there are developers that manipulate the price of the token to attract more investors, then run away once the project has been profitable for them. 
• He cited some examples, like the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) scheme in 2017 and the play-to-earn scheme in 2021. The CEO then warned investors that, for sure, something “pakulo” will rise again on the next bull run.

What Will Drive the Crypto Industry in PH? 

• “I hate to say it, but I think it’s the government that’s gonna drive it later on. But I think it’s the government that’s gonna make the cryptocurrency really strong. They’re going to use it—CBDC, it’s coming.”
• Villarante expressed that he sees financial-related affairs in the country to be on the blockchain soon. This includes SEC-registered securities, commodities trading, and even lending.
• “Very fundamental in our history, the technology is what drives social change. And what is the social problem right now is inequality. And I think what (blockchain) will (bring) is that there will be equality, there will be no longer health problems. Theoretically it’s possible.”
• “In the Philippines, we’re still in a feudal system because a lot of people owe money. to some people with a lot of interest, and I think we need to solve that. And I think ‌ the government needs to come in and solve this inequality.”

Q&A From Comment Section

Is there a possibility that the bull market will happen once BTC halving occurs? 

“Yes, the halving has an effect on the bull market because the miners don’t wanna sell at a low price, and because their rewards from the halving  cut into half, they don’t wanna lose money, they don’t want to sell it at a low price.”

Will the U.S. SEC’s approval of BlackRock ETF trigger BTC’s price movement? 

“Yes, because if the government approves it, there will be more valid validation on cryptocurrency, and that will have more players that are legit in the market. And BlackRock is a huge validation.”

Is crypto trading considered ‌a casino? 

“It’s not a casino because we believe that (this) technology is like the stock market because we believe that the crypto we’re trading is not just casino chips. They’re there. It’s not just gambling. These are real technologies that can drive real social changes later on.”

Is Villarante bullish or bearish with CBDC? 

“Very interesting. Kasi there are a lot of things that could happen with the central bank using CBDCs—everything will be electronic. It will already create efficiency in the market because for me, they’re gonna cut the middleman.”

Do whales contribute to the length of the bear market? 

“Yes, because some people want the prices to drop because they want to buy, and some people want to go up because they want to go out. So the whales are two-sided—you don’t know what they’re gonna do. Do they want the market to go up or do they want the market to go down? Depends on their holdings, depends on what they have. And for me, it’s so difficult to predict unless you’re the whale.”

Villarante’s Closing Remarks

“Don’t be disheartened. Madami pang ibang projects diyan. You need to learn that blockchain is not just about Axie Infinity. ‘Wag ka lang makiki-ride sa projects ng iba, gumawa ka ng innovative way din. Tignan mo iyong mga projects na may value sa community.”

This article is published on BitPinas: How Crypto and Web3 Companies Can Survive Multiple Bear Markets | BitPinas Webcast 25

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