Spencer Bogart, a partner at Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm, said in a conversation with Bloomberg that despite the long bearish cycle in the cryptocurrency market, cryptoactives still have enormous potential.

The expert still holds positive predictions about the future of Bitcoin, noting the critical role of "programmable money", whose popularity will continue to grow.

Former chairman of Google, billionaire Eric Emerson Schmidt, gave an interview to economist Tyler Cowen at an organized Village Global event, which was held in San Francisco.

The dialogue covered various topics, such as the future of technology, the division of the Internet, recruitment methods and the reform of corporate governance. In addition, Schmidt expressed his opinion about Ethereum, stating that he has enormous potential and has every chance of becoming a powerful platform.

The developer, who formalized the code that underlies most of the primary token allocations (ICO), the Ethereum standard ERC-20, proposed a new approach in an attempt to make financing schemes safer for investors.

Speaking in Prague on Devcon4, the annual Ethereum Developer Conference, Fabian Vogelsteller proposed the concept of a "reversible ICO" or RICO that would allow token investors to return their funds at any stage of the project's life. In particular, the concept involves the creation of a special smart contract that allows investors to "cancel their financing obligations".

The head of deVere Group, Nigel Green believes that in the coming years, the superiority of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market will significantly decrease. However, this will not prevent the first cryptocurrency to grow by another 5000%.

Green, however, recognizes the merits of Bitcoin and the revolution accomplished by this cryptocurrency, but believes that new technologies and cryptocurrencies will surpass the progenitor in time.

In a note to Fundstrat Global Advisors clients, analyst Tom Lee wrote that the Ethereum is ready to change the trend to a bottom line and make a strong rally. 

The cryptographic principles underlying the zk-SNARK (ZCash-proof technology of zero-disclosure in the crypto currency) can greatly help with the scaling of the Ethereum network, Vitalik Buterin said during a scientific forum.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin said that he does not view the decline in the value of cryptocurrency as a constraint on the growth of the industry. In his recent interview with Bloomberg, Lubin said that the drop in prices is not a new phenomenon. It was present in the "ecosystem of the blockchain since 2009 - from the moment Bitcoin was invented."

He also noted that, despite the declining value of the cryptocurrency, price bubbles will appear to be "small bumps on the chart", because "growth was exponential".

The Australian currency exchange exchanger Bitcoin.com.au made it possible to purchase Bitcoin and Ethereum for Fiat in more than 1200 newsstands throughout the country. "The fact that you can now buy Bitcoin and Ethereum from the same place you purchase soft drinks and stationery really speaks to how institutionalised cryptocurrency has become [...] For anyone who has hesitated about buying Bitcoin because it all seemed too complicated, this is the perfect setup that takes the fear factor out of investing in digital currencies", said Bitcoin.com.au CEO Rupert Hackett.

According to the Google Trends portal, the number of search queries "Bitcoin" and "Ethereum" in Google has recently decreased significantly - by 75% (from 100 points to 25). The number of requests for Bitcoin, in particular, began to decline from December, and now are at the same level as in October-November. A similar story with the Ethereum. While he managed to restore a high level of interest in January, after falling in December, it fell to about 25 points and stopped at the same level as in November.