UK Cryptocurrency Startups Suffer Dwindling Fortunes Amidst Market Decline

Cryptocurrency startups in the United Kingdom are struggling in 2018. The fringe benefits that came with changing a company’s name to reflect an interest in blockchain technology seems to have all but disappeared.

“Cryptomania” is at its Lowest Ebb

In the last months of 2017, cryptomania gripped large swaths of the global business scene. With ICOs raking in hundreds of millions of dollars and cryptocurrencies reaching new all-time highs, the emerging market became the focus of interest from several quarters.

Fast-forward to 2018 and much of the hype and hysteria has dissipated with cryptocurrency prices taking a beating for most of the year. This price decline seems to have also affected many stakeholders from mining companies to crypto hedge funds, as well as other cryptocurrency startups.

Argo blockchain attempted to write major headlines at the start of August, becoming the first cryptocurrency company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Despite the buzz generated when the news emerged, the share price of the company has fallen by almost 50 percent from $0.20 to $0.11.

Share Price of Cryptocurrency Companies Plummet in 2018

At the height of cryptomania, some companies altered their corporate courses, steering firmly into the unknown cryptocurrency waters. The allure of the emerging market most likely buoyed them, they imagined that they could stake a significant portion of the market.

A few companies even changed their name of included a blockchain addendum with the hopes of securing a positive share price growth. Online Blockchain and Blockchain Worldwide were two such companies. Both based in the UK, they have also more or less experienced the same downturn in fortune.

According to a recent Financial Times (FT) article, the two companies jumped into the cryptocurrency arena in late 2017 and early 2018. Online Blockchain was originally called On-line, an information technology incubator enterprise. After making the transition to cryptocurrency and rebranding itself, its shares also rose from $0.17 to about $1.95.

However, the steady decline in the prices of cryptocurrencies has seen the company’s shares tumble by more than 75 percent to $0.51. According to the company, its cryptocurrency venture is yet to bear fruit. Notwithstanding, Online Blockchain doesn’t seem to be slowing down in its efforts. The company recently acquired Eucryptid Gaming Inc – a cryptocurrency startup that specializes in game development.

For Blockchain Worldwide, it rebranded itself from Stapleton Capital in September 2017. At the time of the announcement, its shares soared almost 50 percent. However, an inability to achieve any tangible result in the industry has seen its valuation take a significant nosedive. The company’s shares now stand at $0.06 which is materially much lower than its share price before it made the transition to cryptocurrency.

Do you the good times will return for these companies? Keep the conversation going in the comment section below.

Images courtesy of The London Stock Exchange Group, Shutterstock

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