Startup founders are skeptical about the future of cryptocurrency, but that hasn't stopped them from investing in it anyway

A man wears a Bitcoin logo t-shirt on the floor of the Consensus 2018 blockchain technology conference in New York City, New York, U.S., May 16, 2018.

Cryptocurrency had reached 35 million users as of September 2018, reflective of the trend of people becoming increasingly familiar with blockchain technology and digital currencies like bitcoin, ethereum, and tether.
Although individuals are investing more in the technology, it's not burgeoning as much on the business and industry level.
A recent survey of hundreds of startup founders found that while 40 percent of them personally own cryptocurrency, only 13 percent saw cryptocurrency or blockchain tech becoming a dominant technology in their industry in the future.
These findings come as the price of cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin, is plunging. The cryptocurrency market has been in a major downslide for the last few months.

Cryptocurrency may be seen as the money of the future, but tech startup founders are skeptical whether the decentralized technology will majorly transform their industries in the near future.

A survey of more than 500 founders at technology startups found that while 40 percent of the founders own cryptocurrency themselves, only 13 percent think that bitcoin, and blockchain technology, will become "dominant technologies" in their businesses in the future.

According to the findings from investment firm First Round, an estimated 57% of founders responded that cryptocurrency would play a purely "experimental" role in their industries and that only "a minority" of companies will have integrated it into their businesses in the next five years.

This interest and use of crypto assets at an individual level — rather than at the business or industry level — is a trend reflected in the crypto market as a whole. A research study out of the University of Cambridge found in September that a majority of crypto users are individuals.

The same study also concluded that the number of people participating in this digital, decentralized economy had doubled in the past year, and has reached an all-time high of 35 million users.

But despite the uptick in numbers, the price cryptocurrency has been in a continuous downward spiral this year. Bitcoin peaked at a price of $19,500 in January, but its value was wavering around $3,300 on Thursday. Just in the last week, the crypto market lost $14 billion in valuation.

bitcoin year snapshot december 2018